Mass Effect: Paragon Paths
by Dahlia Rei
Summary: This is the story of Jennifer Shepard. My character from my playthrough of ME1. The name tells you the path she'll take. I'll keep as close to the dialogue of the game as closely as I can where it's appropriate. But I'm adding everything I think should be there. Lots of extra scenes and content. Should be fun.
1. Chapter 1

Captain David Anderson stood at the modest desk in Ambassador Udina's office, waiting for the men in front of him to make up their minds. Spread out before them was a series of data pads, each one displaying a different soldiers service record. In the back of the room a turian specter paced back and forth waiting also.

Anderson watched as Admiral Hackett picked up another data pad to review. Finally his candidate, the only one he was allowed to put forward, was on the top of the pile. He waited, watching her image on the screen.

Udina reached down and picked it up. His eyes took in the picture of her and he moved to cast this pad aside too. He stopped suddenly and pulled it in front of him again.

Anderson turned to the turian, Nihlus, and nodded.

They had both recommended this particular solider.

"Well, what about Shepard?" Udina asked, "Earth-born . . . but no record of her family."

"Doesn't have one," Anderson replied. "She was raised on the streets. Learned to look out for herself."

Admiral Hackett took the data pad from Udina and nodded, he remembered her. "She proved herself during the blitz. Held off enemy forces on the ground until reinforcements could arrive."

"She's the only reason Elysium is still standing," Anderson added.

"We can't question her courage," Udina remarked with a nod.

Anderson stepped forward ready to make his case. "Humanity needs a hero. And Shepard's the best we've got."

Hackett looked to Nihlus who nodded and finally back to Udina.

"I'll make the call."

Commander Jennifer Shepard let out a long slow breath. She felt her biotic current flow around her. She threw her arms open and released her energy out, toppling all of the targets in the field. With a smile she stood and wiped the sweat from her brow.

Grabbing a water bottle from the table nearby, she took a long drink and brought up the clock on her omni-tool.

Just after noon.

She'd been practicing for over an hour now.

She thought about stopping, maybe heading back home. She didn't have a lot of pass days and she wasn't sure she wanted to spend all day practicing.

Her omni-tool beeped.

She had an incoming call.

Shepard brought the tool back up and opened up the video call interface.

"Hello?"

Captain Anderson's face appeared on the slightly orange screen.

"Shepard, it's Captain Anderson."

"Afternoon sir."

"Afternoon Commander. I've got some good news for you."

"Oh?"

"You're being transferred under my command. As 0800 hours tomorrow you are officially the XO of the newest ship in the Alliance fleet. The Normandy."

She was shocked.

"Uh sir . . . I don't know what to say." She hadn't been counting on being assigned to a ship. In fact she wasn't sure serving on a ship was something she wanted anymore.

Not after Elysium.

Not after the Blitz.

"I know this isn't what you signed on for," Anderson explained. "But I need the best damn crew I can assemble. And that means you."

"Thank you sir." She responded before she could think about it.

"No need to thank me Shepard. Just get your gear packed and be ready to move out by 1500 hours. I've made arrangements for you to get to the Luna station. I'll have a shuttle pick you up there tomorrow morning."

"Sir, if I can be frank?"

"Speak freely Shepard," He assured her.

"Why pick me? I've heard about the Normandy and what she can do. A ship like that, you must have people chopping at the bit."

Anderson laughed for a moment and then said, "Tell me what this is really about Jenn. I know you too well to be fooled by a question like that."

She sighed. Anderson was the one who had found her on the streets that day, all those years ago. She'd been running from the Reds, a gang she had done some work with when she was younger. She had never much cared for gangs or the way they ran fast and loose with the rules. But as an orphan, and a biotic, she didn't have a lot of options.

One night, when she was seventeen, she got wind of the gang's plans to attack an older woman as she left the bank she visited every Wednesday night. Shepard had seen her coming and going on several occasions. She was kind and would often pass her a few credits here and there for food.

Somehow one of the Reds had found out that she was quite wealthy and often pulled large summons of credits from the bank to donate at various shelters around the city.

She was a good woman. Kind and generous to everyone.

They were planning to kill her for her money.

So she stopped them.

She went to the bank and warned the woman. Told her their plans. The older woman was so grateful she gave Shepard a thousand credits and was sure to never walk home from the bank alone again.

When her old gang found her, they were less than grateful. She used every biotic trick she could think of, not that she knew many. But when she tired they started in on her. She threw punches and ran for as long as she could. As she came around a corner she ran into an ally, hoping to hide and rest, they trapped her.

They beat her with fists at first.

And she kept fighting.

Then they started picking up pipes and bricks to beat her with next.

She pulled the last of her energy in and pushed them back.

Then she collapsed to her knees, completely spent.

Just before they could close in and finish her off, the sound of a pistol rang through the street. The Reds scattered like roaches when the lights came on. A man came and scooped her up off the floor and carried her to a nearby hospital.

When she woke up Anderson, not a captain yet, was waiting by her bedside. He told her he had seen the last of the fight, asked what had happened and then commended her for her bravery. He told her that he seen war hardened generals who didn't have half her spirit. He then went on to say that the Alliance could use people like her, and it would be a good way to get away from the gangs and violence in the cities.

A few days later she was released from the hospital and went straight to the enlistment office. Anderson had left word that she would come and when she did, her wanted her application fast tracked. She was through the tests and on her way to boot in a week.

He had saved her life and checked on her frequently.

In many ways he was like the father she'd never known.

He knew her well enough to know when she wasn't being straight with him.

"I'm a solider sir, a good one. I don't mind being assigned to the Normandy, it sounds like a hell of a ship. I just want to know that this assignment is because I'm a good solider and not because of the blitz." She explained it as best she could.

"Shepard this assignment is because you're the best the N7 program has to offer. I want the best on my ship. Now get your ass in gear marine, that transport won't wait forever."

"Yes, sir!"

Shepard stood waiting for the transport shuttle that would take her to the Normandy. She'd been flying all night and had barely made it to the shuttle bay before 0800. Not that it mattered since it appeared her pilot was late.

"Commander?" A solider in Alliance blue armor approached her and saluted.

She returned the gesture and waited.

"Ma'am I have your shuttle pulling in now," he motioned to what looked like a brand new alliance shuttle pulling in. She nodded her thanks and headed toward the opening door. She ducked under the lifting door and looked around. The few seats that in main area of the shuttle were empty, the only other person on board appeared to be the pilot. She dumped her bag on one of chairs and headed into the control area.

"Commander, it's nice to meet you," the pilot greeted her. He was an attractive man in his early thirties maybe. With thick dark hair and amber eyes that sparkled when he took in the sight of her. He was very attractive.

"Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, ma'am. Captain Anderson sent me to pick you up. Sorry I was late, piloting isn't my strong suite."

"Maybe I should wait for the next shuttle then," she joke good naturedly.

He laughed as she sat down in the seat next to him. "That might be a long wait."

"Well I guess it's a good thing I've been practicing my shield." She fastened her seatbelt and smiled as the LT laughed too.

"So you are a biotic," he commented as the shuttle pulled out and into space.

"You say that like you knew already."

"Well there are rumors," he started to head toward a ship in the distance, it looked small but they were still a ways out. "Especially after the blitz."

"Ah," she replied quietly. She turned away from the LT and glanced out the small windows on the sides.

"I'm sorry commander," Alenko said in a rush. "I didn't mean to bring up anything . . ."

"It's fine. Is that the Normandy?" She pointed to the ship they were approaching.

"Yea," he replied, dropping the topic. "The SR1. State of the art and top of the line."

"Alenko," Anderson's voice cut through the cockpit. "Do you have the Commander?"

"Yes sir," he replied, looking sheepish. "I was just explaining the ship to the Commander and must have forgotten to check in."

"It's my fault Captain," she jumped in after she realized he was in trouble. "I've been questioning him nonstop about the ship. He hasn't had a chance to check in."

"Well stop distracting my lieutenant and get over here," he laughed.

"ETA two minutes Captain," Alenko assured him.

The comm clicked off and they were alone in the cockpit again.

"Thanks for that," he said, smiling at her.

"Not a problem," she smiled at him too. "Besides, I have been asking about the ship."

"Yeah, I suppose that's true."

A few moments later they pulled the shuttle into the docking bay and Alenko set it down in a way that suggested he really shouldn't have been flying.

They both unstrapped and stood to leave. She hit the solid mass of his chest and bounced back into the seat.

"Commander!" He shouted.

She laughed. "I'm fine." Standing carefully so as to avoid running into him again she got up. "Are you okay?"

He laughed. "Honestly Commander, I didn't even feel anything."

"Oh good," she grumbled. "Thank makes me feel better." She stepped into the main part of the shuttle and picked up her bag.

"Hey Commander, can I ask you something?" Alenko paused next to the release for shuttle door.

"Sure."

"Have you ever seen a jump through a relay from the cockpit of a highly advanced prototype ship?"

She laughed. "No, I suppose I haven't."

"Well when we make the jump you should head up to the CIC and check it out. Joker's an amazing pilot. Just don't tell him I said that."

"Okay," she smiled. "If I get a chance I'll head up."

He smiled and looked away. Then he punched the release for the door and motioned for her to step out. They were in a large hanger bay with lockers along one side and a Mako on the other. Ahead of them there was what looked like an elevator and two doors that led down to the next level and she guessed engineering.

Alenko jumped down after her and started leading her toward the elevator.

"The crew quarters are on the second level along with the Captains cabin, the med bay and the main battery. Engineering is through the doors over there. The CIC is on the top level and the command room is there too. Forward of the galaxy map is the cock pit. I'll see you up there for the jump, if you can make it."

"I'll certainly try." She smiled as they got onto the elevator and pushed the button. The door slid closed and the lift started to move.

Very slowly it made the climb to the second level.

"Wow," she muttered. "Cutting edge technology, billions of credits, all the resources the alliance has to offer and they still can't afford an elevator that moves faster than a crawl."

Alenko stifled a laugh as the door slid open.

"Commander." He saluted her. She returned the gesture and watched him head up a set of stairs to the left. She walked around the elevator and looked for the crew quarters. After some searching she found the room and went inside. There were several bunk beds along each wall and lockers at the end of each. Not sure where to put her things she tossed her bag on the floor.

A few minutes later she was changed into her N7 armor and was checking her pistol.

It was an older model standard alliance issue heavy pistol. She knew better ones existed, and being a commander now she could have a new one without issue. But this pistol had gotten her through the blitz. If she believed in things like good luck charms, this gun was hers.

Checking that the mags on her suite were working she strapped the pistol to her left side and the fixed her shotgun to her back and then a sniper and assault rifle for good measure. Not that she was trained in those guns, it still made her feel better to have them.

"Commander?" And unknown voice called through the ships comm.

"Go ahead."

"We're getting ready to make the jump. LT seemed to think you might wanna see that."

"I'm on my way."

Shepard strode from the room and headed for the stairs. She stopped short as a turian appeared around the corner. He was tall like most of his kind. His skin was a dark brown and his paint was white and his eyes a bright green. He was in black and red armor that looked suited to both heavy combat or recon He stopped and stared the same as her.

"Sorry," she said, moving to pass him.

"Commander Shepard, right?"

"Yes," she replied suspiciously. "And you are?"

"Nihlus, Nihlus Kryik," he responded by extending a gloved three fingered hand. She shook it without hesitation.

"Nice to meet you Nihlus."

"And you Commander." He stepped to the side and she nodded her thanks and kept going. She took the stairs a few at a time trying to make up for being stopped. She was through the door and passed a soldier who saluted her.

"The Arturus Prime relay is in rang," the voice of the pilot rang through the ship. "Initiating transmission sequence."

She bumped into a young soldier who saluted her as he passed and said, "Commander."

"We are connected, calculating, mass relay is hot," she moved past the galaxy map and started up the long walk way past the other control units. "Acquiring approach vector. All stations secure for transport. The board is green. Approach run has begun."

She stepped up behind the pilot to see a mass relay leering toward them. She came up right behind LT's chair and put a hand on it. If the jump was anything like she had experienced in the past, it could be a bumpy ride.

Alenko glanced at the commander out of the corner of her eye and smiled to himself.

"Hitting the relay in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1!" A beam of light shot out form the spinning rings of the relay and grabbed the ship. It pulled them forward and launched them into space so fast the stars became streaks of light flying past faster than she could count them. It was amazing to see firsthand.

A second later they slowed and then passed another relay.

"Thrusters check, nav check, internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online. Drift . . . just under 1500 k."

"1500 k is good. Your captain will be pleased," Nihlus commented from behind her. She hadn't even heard him walk up. He nodded to her again and started walking back toward the galaxy map.

"I hate that guy," the pilot muttered.

"Come on Joker," Alenko laughed. "Nihlus gave you a compliment so you hate him?"

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom? That's good. I just jumped us half way around the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pin head, so that's incredible," Joker countered. "Besides specters are trouble. I don't like having them on board. Call me paranoid."

"You're paranoid," Alenko told him. "The council helped fund this project. They have the right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment."

She suppressed a laugh as she listened to their banter.

"Yea that is the 'official story'," Joker muttered. "But only an idiot believes the official story. What do you think commander?" He turned around and stopped when he looked at her.

She ignored this look, she knew it all too well.

"They don't send specters on shakedown runs," she admitted after a moment's hesitation.

Joker turned back around and nodded. "So there's more going on here than the captain is letting on."

"Joker!" Anderson's voice rang out through the cockpit. All three people standing there jumped. "Status report!"

"Just cleared the mass relay, Captain. Stealth systems are engaged. Everything looks solid."

"Good. Find a comm buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime."

"Aye, aye, Captain. Better brace yourself, sir. I think Nihlus is headed your way," Joker added.

"He's already here, lieutenant," Anderson replied sounding more than a little displeased.

Joker shook his head as though the Captains words were painful. Alenko and Shepard stifled laughs. A thought struck her then, as she stood on the cockpit, maybe being on this ship would be a good thing. Hell it might be the best thing that's ever happened to her.

"Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the command room for a debriefing."

The comm clicked off and the room was silent.

"You get that Commander?" Joker asked.

"He sounds angry," she noted. "Something must have gone wrong with the mission."

"Pff. Captain always sounds like that when he's talking to me," Joker muttered.

"Can't imagine why," Alenko muttered.

Shepard chuckled and tapped the back of the LT's chair. He looked up at her and smiled. She nodded and headed out toward the map again. She wasn't even half way there when a very loud conversation drifted over the sound of the ship toward her. She couldn't understand everything they were saying but it sounded bad. She was sure she caught the word Nihlus and possibly turian.

"And we're getting dragged right along with him," Navigator Pressley complained to someone as he walked back around the map. He caught sight of her and smiled.

"Congratulations Commander!" His voice boomed happily. "Looks like we had a smooth run. You heading down to see the captain?"

She ignored his question. "Sounds like you don't trust our turian guest."

He looked around sheepishly. "Sorry Commander. Just having a chat with Adams down in engineering. Didn't mean to cause any trouble." He hesitated for a moment and looked around, making sure no one was listening. "But you have to admit, somethings odd about this mission. The whole crew feels it."

"You think the Alliance brass is holding out on us?" She asked, thinking more and more that there was something big going on.

"If all we're supposed to do is test out the stealth system, then why is Captain Anderson in charge? And then there's Nihlus! Specters are elite operatives. Top covert agents. Why send a specter, a turian specter, on a shakedown run? It doesn't add up."

She thought over his words for a moment before she said, "I'll see if I can get some answers when I see him."

"Good luck, Commander," Pressley said with a salute.

She returned the gesture and kept moving toward the command room. Before she even cleared the map she came upon the solider she'd bumped into earlier and a gray haired woman who, judging by her clothes, was the ships doctor.

"I grew up on Eden Prime, doc," the young corporal was saying. "It's not the kind of place spectres visit. There's something Nihlus isn't telling us about this mission."

"That's crazy," the doctor replied. "The Captain's in charge here. He wouldn't take orders from a Spectre."

She stopped when the corporal's eyes landed on her. "What do you think Commander? We won't be staying on Eden Prime too long will we? I'm itching for some real action."

Before she could answer, the doctor replied.

"I sincerely hope you're joking corporal. You're 'real action' usually ends with me patching up crew members in the infirmary," she explained.

Shepard agreed.

"You need to calm down corporal. A good solider stays cool, even under fire." She didn't want to put the young man down. She appreciated his enthusiasm. It would serve him well in the years to come. But he did need to reign it in a notch.

"Sorry Commander," he replied somewhat let down. "But this waiting is killing me. I've never been a on a mission like this before. Not one with a spectre on board."

"Just treat this like every other assignment you've had and everything will work out," she assured him.

"Easy for you to say," he commented as he rolled his eyes. "You proved yourself already in the blitz. Everybody knows what you can do. This is my big chance! I gotta show the brass what I can do!"

She took a deep breath at the mention of the blitz. So tired of people bringing it up. "You're young corporal, and you're got a long career ahead of you. Don't do something stupid to mess it up." She wanted to be kind but also firm with him. Too many young men get ahead of themselves and ended up getting killed.

"Don't worry ma'am. I'm not going to screw this up," he assured her smiling.

"Captains waiting for me," she sighed. With a nod she stepped past the two and headed into the command room. The door scanned her face and slid open with a whoosh.

Down a short walkway the room opened up into a giant round conference space. It was lined on either side with eight chairs that all faced the middle. Along the back wall was a large screen surrounded by a communications access board.

On the screen now was an image of some kind of tower with Nihlus standing just before the comm board. He was starting at the screen, analyzing it. When she stepped down the walk way and into the open area he turned.

"Commander Shepard. I was hoping you'd get here first. It will give us a chance to talk."

She stopped next to him. "What about?"

"I'm interested in the world we're going to, Eden Prime. I hear it's quite beautiful." He turned back to the screen.

"They say it's a paradise," she offered, recalling one of the recruitment posters she'd seen around.

"Yes . . . a paradise," he contemplated. "Serene. Tranquil. Safe. Eden Prime has become something of a symbol to your people hasn't it?" He turned back to face her. "Proof that humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy, but also protect them.

"But how safe is it, really?"

It sounded like a question, but she could feel an unspoken edge on the spectres voice. "Do you know something?" She asked too many questions forming in her mind.

"Your people are still newcomers, Shepard. The galaxy can be a very dangerous place. Is the alliance truly ready for this?"

Before she could ask what he meant by that the door opened behind them and Captain Anderson walked in.

"I think it's about time we told the Commander what's really going on."

Part of her wanted to shout that she knew something was up, but she was well trained and resisted the urge. Instead she waited for someone to explain.

Nihlus stepped up so the three of them formed a triangle. "This mission is far more than a simple shakedown run."

"I figured there was something you weren't telling us," she said to Anderson.

"We're making a covert pickup on Eden Prime. That's why we needed the stealth systems operational," Anderson explained.

"There must be a reason you didn't tell me about this sir?" She asked him again.

"This comes down from the top, Commander. Information on a strictly need to know basis," he continued explaining. "A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation. It was Prothean."

Her head went spinning. "I thought the Protheans vanished 50,000 years ago?"

"Their legacy still remains," Nihlus told her. "The mass relays, the Citadel, our ship drives, it's all based on Prothean technology."

"This is big Shepard. The last time humanity made a discovery like this it jumped our technology forward 200 years," Anderson explained. "But Eden Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this. We need to bring the beacon back to the Citadel for proper study."

"Obviously," Nihlus cut in, "this goes beyond mere human interests, Commander. This discovery could affect every species in council space."

She nodded. Glad to know that if they were going to handling something this advanced they would have help. "Well it never hurts to have a few extra hands on board," she commented.

Nihlus smiled, the mandibles on his face moving slightly as he did. "The beacons not the only reason I'm here Shepard."

"Nihlus wants to see you in action, Commander," Anderson explained when she looked at him confused. "He's here to evaluate you."

"I guess that explains why I bump into him every time I turn around," she muttered, suddenly understanding why she had run into him twice in the twenty some odd minutes she'd been on board.

"The Alliance has been pushing for this for a long time. Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy," Anderson went on. "We want more say with the Citadel council.

"The spectres represent the council's power and authority. If they accept a human into their ranks it shows how far the Alliance has come."

"You held off an enemy assault during the blitz single handed. You showed not only courage but incredible skill. That's why I put your name forward as a candidate for the specters."

Shepard was shocked. As far as she knew most turians still weren't happy with humanity after the first contact war. It hadn't even been thirty years. It surprised her to know that he would suggest her for such an auspicious position. She was more than humbled.

"I assume this is good with the Alliance," she said.

"Earth needs this Shepard. We're counting on you," Anderson assured her with a smile.

"I need to see your skills myself, Commander," Nihlus explained. "Eden Prime with be the first of several missions together."

Several missions with a turian specter.

That was going to get interesting.

"You'll be in charge of the ground team," Anderson assured her, misreading her face. "Secure the beacon and get it onto the ship ASAP. Nihlus will accompany you to observe the mission."

She wanted to ask more questions, there were other things she wanted to know. Not just about Nihlus or the specters, but about Eden Prime and this beacon as well. She wanted to know so much. Instead of asking she nodded to Nihlus and then to Anderson.

"Just give the word Captain.'

He nodded, pleased at how well she was taking everything. He had wanted to tell her from the start the real reason she was here. But it wouldn't have been fair to put all that on her via the omni-tool. She deserved to be told in person. He was proud of everything she had accomplished in her life. Proud of the woman she had become.

He didn't have any children of his own, the Alliance had never given him the time to properly settle down. In some ways he viewed Shepard as the child he never had. He certainly would have hoped that his children would be so bold and brave.

"We should be getting close to Eden . . ."Anderson was cut off by the comm suddenly coming on.

"Captain we've got a problem," Joker's voice rang through the room.

"What's wrong Joker?" Anderson asked.

"Transmission from Eden Prime, sir. You better see this!"

"Bring it up on screen," Anderson commanded.

Suddenly the room was filled with sounds of gun fire as the screen lit up with scenes of soldiers running and firing on enemies they couldn't see. A female soldier in white and pink armor filled the screen. She ran toward the camera and shouted, "GET DOWN!"

More gunfire rang out as the camera seemed to roll around on the ground. The images started to scramble and waver. A bad connection or a damaged camera, she couldn't tell. Suddenly a soldier picked it up and started shouting.

"We're under attack! Taking heavy casualties. I repeat, heavy casualties! We can't . . . argh!" He shouted as he was suddenly knocked to the ground. ". . . Need evac! They came out of nowhere. We need . . ." The words fell away as the man fell, gunned down or otherwise they couldn't be sure.

Shouting and gun fire slowed to a crawl around the camera as the image panned up toward the sky. A ship like nothing Shepard had ever seen descended on the small area before the camera. The camera rolled again and the images turned to static.

"Everything cuts out after that. No comm traffic at all. Just goes dead. There's nothing," Jokers voice sounded as bad as she felt. People were dying down there. They need to get down there and help before it was too late.

"Reverse and hold at 38.5," Anderson ordered, keeping his eyes on the screen.

The images rushed past backwards and froze on the image of the ship. It was huge and black or maybe purple, it was hard to tell. It had appendages on the front like arms that were opening up as it descended on the people below.

The Captain, the Commander, and the spectre, stared at the screen.

"Status report!" Anderson shouted.

"Seventeen minutes out, Captain. No other Alliance ships in the area."

"Take us in Joker. Fast and quite. This mission just got a whole lot more complicated."

"A small strike team can move quickly without drawing attention," Nihlus offered. "It's our best chance to secure the beacon."

Anderson nodded to him. "Grab your gear and meat us in the cargo hold." He turned to Shepard. "Tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit up, Commander. You're going in."

She nodded and took off from the room like a shot.

Up the small walkway and through the door. She stopped around the corner and put a hand on Jenkins. "Suit up and get to the cargo hold, now!"

He opened his mouth to say something but she was running again. Around the galaxy map and Pressley who looked at her like she was insane. She kept running through the small hallway and into the cockpit.

"Commander?" Alenko started, jumping to his feet. "What's going on?"

"Suit up," she told him, sucking in a deep breath. "We're headed to the surface."

He nodded and together they took off running toward the stairs. She stumbled once and almost went down. Alenko caught her by the elbow and kept her form going down.

"Thanks," she said as they ran into the elevator with Jenkins.

"What's going on Commander?" The corporal asked as the door closed.

"There's a problem in the colony," she explained as she pulled her pistol from her side and checked the slide. "The Captain can explain everything."

"Right," Alenko nodded.

Five minutes later they were standing before Captain Anderson geared up and ready to go.

"Engaging stealth systems," Joker's voice rang out in the large docking bay. "Somebody was doing some serious digging down here Captain."

"You're teams the muscle in this operation, Commander," Anderson explained to them. "Go in heavy and head straight for the dig site."

"What about survivors, Captain?" Alenko asked.

He shook his head, "Helping survivors is a secondary objective. The beacon's your top priority."

"Approaching drop point one."

Nihlus walked up as the cargo bay door opened to their right. He nodded to the Captain and kept walking.

"Nihlus? You're coming with us?" Jenkins asked.

"I move faster on my own," He replied as he headed to the door and jumped out.

"Nihlus will scout out ahead," Anderson explained. "He'll fed you status reports throughout the mission. Otherwise I want radio silence."

"Ready and able sir," she assured him.

"The mission is yours now Shepard. Good luck," He called to her as the team of three approached the doors.

"We are approaching drop point two."

Together the three jumped from the ship and onto the planet's surface. She, and to her surprise, Alenko, used their biotics to slow their decent. When they hit she felt the pressure from it the fall shudder up her armor and out.

Guns came up as they scanned the area around them.

"Ship perimeter clear, Commander," Alenko assured her as they holstered their weapons.

"This place got hit hard, Commander," Nihlus said over the comm. "Hostiles everywhere. Keep your guard up."

She checked to make sure Jenkins and Alenko had heard.

Turning to follow what looked like the obvious path, she stopped.

"What the hell are those?" Alenko shouted.

Wondering through the river just a way head were strange puffy creatures on stick thin legs. No heads or eyes that she could see. It was the most bizarre thing she'd ever seen.

"Gas bags," Jenkins explained. "Don't worry their harmless."

"If you say so," she mumbled as she pulled her gun back out.

In the distance she could see a tower of some kind that she assumed was where they need to head. Pulling up her omni-tool she double checked her nav point. She was right. They were headed to the tower.

"Let's move."

Together they started forward moving as a fluid, organized unit.

Shepard was at the head, with Alenko at her right and Jenkins at her left. As they reached the top of the small hill before them, a smell of death and smoke wafted over them. A few feet from the top of the hill they saw their first body of the day.

"Oh god. What happened here?" Jenkins asked miserably.

She turned and put a hand on his shoulder. He met her eyes and nodded, he was okay. They pressed on.

As they came down the hill and around the next bend she stopped.

Something didn't feel right.

She signaled for the men to stop.

There was something close by, something not right. Shepard signaled for the men to advance. Alenko started forward and stopped up against the side of small cliff next to them. Jenkins rushed forward toward some large rocks along the main path. Before she moved forward the corporal was starting forward again.

She wanted to call out to him but a strange sound stopped her.

Drones of some kind appeared from beyond her line of sight. Three of them focused in on Jenkins and opened fire. He grunted and went down.

"Jenkins!" She called rushing forward. She threw a warp field at the drone and loosed her pistol at them. At the same time Alenko threw a gravity field at them and started shooting too. In a matter of second the drones were dispatched.

Alenko rushed forward and checked on Jenkins. His fingers pressed the side of his neck for a moment. Then he shook his head and closed the young man's eyes. He stood and looked into Shepard's eyes, his own clearly in pain.

"Ripped right threw his shields. Never stood a chance."

She wanted to comfort him on the loss of his friend, but they were on a mission and that had to take priority. Still, she didn't want to be cold.

"We'll see that he receives a proper service after the mission is complete. But I need you to stay focused," she put a hand on his shoulder and tried to convey her sympathy as best she could right then.

"Aye, aye, ma'am," he replied nodding.

She raised her gun again and together the two of them started forward again. At the top of the next hill three more drone appeared out of the trees. Taking shelter behind some nearby rocks, they took the drones out with a combination of biotics and bullets.

"Got some burned out buildings here, Shepard," Nihlus's voice whispered though the comm. "A lot of bodies. I'm gonna check it out. I'll try to catch up to you at the dig site."

"Should we tell him about Jenkins?" Alenko asked.

"Not right now," she replied. "Let's keep comms open."

As they moved forward into the nearby trees three more drones came flying at them. After a few more shots these were also put down. They advanced through the rest of the trees and stopped. Somewhere a head of them she could hear gun shots. Someone was still fighting here.

Just before they started down the next hill a person came rushing around the bend toward them. She stumbled as two drones flew after her shooting. She fell and rolled opening fire on the drones blasting them to pieces before they could close the distance between them.

As she stood she stared off around the corner.

Shepard and Alenko both started forward.

Just around bend what looked like two geth had a hold of an injured man. From where Shepard was standing she couldn't get a good look at what was happening. A second later a huge spike sprang out of the odd device the man was on and impaled him.

She was rushing forward before she knew what was going on. Shepard opened fire on the geth and didn't stop until they both were down.

Once she was sure they were getting back up, she holstered her gun and moved to the solider she'd seen in the vid.

"Thanks for your help Commander," the woman said as she caught her breath. "I didn't think I was going to make it." She took a deep breath and saluted Shepard. "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212. You the one in charge here ma'am?"

Shepard ignored her question for a moment. "Are you injured, Williams?"

"A few scrapes and burns. Nothing serious. The others . . . weren't so lucky," she replied rolling her arms and checking herself for injuries. "Oh man . . . we were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get off a distress call but the cut off our communications. I've been fighting for my life ever since."

Shepard looked around, she saw Alenko, gun up and scanning the area around them. As she looked she didn't see anyone else. Fearing the worst she asked, "Where's the rest of your squad?"

Williams baulked. "We tried to double back to the beacon. But we walked into an ambush. I don't think any of the others . . . I think I'm the only one left."

She could see the guilt and blame on her face. It was a feeling she knew all too well. The survivor's guilt that came from being the only one of your squad to come out of situation alive. It was the kind of thing that ate you up inside and kept you up at night.

"This isn't your fault, Williams. You couldn't have done anything to save them."

"Yes ma'am," she replied not sounding convinced at all. "We held our positions as long as we could, until the geth overwhelmed us."

"The geth haven't been seen outside the veil in nearly 200 years. Why are they hear now?" Alenko asked.

"They must have come for the beacon," Williams replied. "The dig site is close. Just over that rise. It might still be there."

She thought for a moment. "We could use your help Williams."

"Aye, aye, ma'am. It's time for some payback."

"Then let's move out." Together the three raised their guns and started moving again. As they came around the far bend they could see the giant spike the geth had used to kill the colonist was not the only such device. They seemed to be scattered all over the place.

"The beacons at the far end of this trench," Williams told her as they moved.

Down at the bottom of the hill the area opened up to what must have been the dig site. Huge rocks and metal frames were scattered about. As Shepard stepped forward her omni-tool pinged.

Enemies ahead.

She glanced to Williams and Alenko. They nodded. They raised their guns and rushed to the large rocks for cover. A second later they were being fired on. She popped off a few shots over the rock and glanced to Alenko. Somehow he'd ended up behind the same rock as her.

"Give me some cover!" She shouted to him over the constant gunfire.

"You got it!" He pointed his gun over the rock and opened fire. Williams got the idea and copied his move. When she heard the enemy fire stop she popped her head over the rock and took a quick count.

"Four geth, troopers not drones," she called when the enemy returned fire. "Pick your targets and light 'em up!"

"Roger that!" Williams shouted as brought her gun up again.

In a matter of moments three of the four were dispatched. Shepard was up and over her rock and after the fourth geth. It popped its strange flashlight head out to fire and she threw a warp at it and it buckled to the ground, dead.

Or as dead as a synthetic could be.

"That's the last of them," Alenko assured her as he checked his omni-tool.

"This is the dig site," Williams explained as they hit the bottom of the hill. "The beacon was right here. I must have been moved." She scanned the large hill next to them supported by metal sheeting. Somehow Shepard doubted the beacon was small enough to keep hidden somewhere around here.

"By who?" Alenko asked. "Our side? Or the geth?"

Shepard scanned the ground around them. She could see footprints from more than a few geth, and a set she thought had to belong to Nihlus. He'd been through here already. She walked back over the dig site.

"Hard to say," Williams was saying. "Maybe we'll know more after we check out the research camp?"

"You think anyone got out of here alive?" Shepard asked, feeling doubtful.

She sighed. "If they were lucky. Maybe hiding up in the camp. It's just on the top of this ridge. Up the ramps."

"Let's head there and check it out," Shepard decided. "Move out."

Guns up, they pressed forward.

At the base of the large dirt ramp her comm clicked to life again.

"Change of plans, Shepard." Nihlus said, "There's a small spaceport up ahead. I want to check it out. I'll wait for you there."

With a quick gesture they were moving up the ramp. A dark cloud of black smoke rose up from somewhere near the top of the hill. A building came into view, directly to the right. It looked burned beyond repair.

"Looks like they hit the camp hard," Williams commented solemnly.

Slowly they cleared the top of the hill. Another two buildings sat near to the one burning, but close enough that they didn't seem to be in any danger of catching fire themselves. Off to the left were three more of those spikes, each with its own victim.

"It's a good place for an ambush," Alenko noted, seeing all dark places to hide.

Shepard nodded and scanned the area. It was getting harder to see thanks to the smoke blowing in her eyes. Another step forward and she froze.

"Did you hear that?" She asked.

A second later the huge spikes came down dropping the people off of them. Or what was left of the people. Something about them was wrong. They looked burned and there was strange tech running up and down their bodies. They barely looked human anymore.

Then they got up.

"Oh, god!" Alenko shouted, "They're still alive!"

"Somethings not right," Shepard whispered to herself.

The three . . . things got to their feet and charged.

"What did the geth do to them?" Williams cried as they came at them.

Unsure of what to do they hesitated.

The first of the creatures reached Shepard. It toppled her to the floor, she put her hands up and launched it back and away with a biotic push. Alenko wasted no time opening fire. In a moment the things that once were human were no more.

Shepard got her feet and dusted herself off.

"Are you ok?" Alenko asked. "Commander." He added as an afterthought.

"I'm fine," she assured him, certain she had seen something more than friendly concern in those amber eyes. "Let's find out what happened here and get that beacon.

"Agreed," Williams whispered. "We should check all these sheds. Someone might have gotten into one in time."

"Let's do it."

The first of the sheds they came up upon had the door ripped off and the safety shutter was up. There were clear signs of a struggle inside, but that was all. Aside from a functioning medi-gel dispenser, the first was a bust.

"That door is closed," Williams pointed out quietly. "The security locks engaged."

With a nod to her and Alenko, Shepard raised her gun and brought up her omni-tool. After a few seconds she managed to override the security lock and open the door. First her, then Alenko and finally Williams burst into the open doorway.

A woman who was dressed as a doctor with short red hair stood toward the back half shielding a hunched man with brown skin and short black hair. He looked off somehow. Something about the way his small black eyes darted around worried her.

"Humans!" The woman sighed in relief. "Thank the Creator!" Her face looked to ease but her hands continued to wring as she started at the open door.

"Hurry!" The man whispered as she skittered forward. "Close the door! Before they come back!"

Shepard nodded to Alenko who holstered his gun and shut the security door. Following suite she and Williams holstered their guns.

"Don't worry," Shepard assured the two. "We'll protect you."

"Thank you," the woman replied. "I think we'll be okay now. It looks like everyone's gone."

"You're Dr. Warren," Williams realized, "the one in charge of the excavation. Do you know what happened to the beacon?"

She nodded, "It was moved to the spaceport this morning. Manuel and I stayed behind to help pack up the camp. When the attack came the marines held them off long enough for us to hide. They gave their lives to save us." She hung her head and looked almost ashamed to be standing there.

"No one is saved," the man Shepard assumed was Manuel hissed, "The age of humanity is ended. Soon, only ruin and corpses will remain."

A look passed between the marines standing at the other end of the shed.

"What's wrong with your assistant?" Shepard asked as she watched the man fret.

"Manuel has a brilliant mind, but he's always been a bit . . . unstable. Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin," Dr. Warren explained as she watched the man with deep concern in her eyes.

Manuel laughed in a way that was almost frightening. "Is it madness to see the future? To see the destruction rushing towards us? To understand there is no escape? No hope? No, I am not mad. I'm the only sane one left!"

It dawned on Shepard then, what it was about him that looked so familiar.

He was acting like a feral animal that had been threatened.

"I gave him an extra dose of his meds after the attack," Dr. Warren said as she tried to explain away her partner's odd behavior.

"Can you tell me anything about the beacon?" Shepard asked, looking away from the clearly disturbed man.

"It's some type of data module from a galaxy wide communications network," the doctor explained. "Remarkably well preserved. It could be the greatest scientific discovery of our lifetime! Miraculous new technology. Groundbreaking medical advances. Who knows what secrets are locked inside?"

"We have unearthed the heart of evil. Awakened the beast. Unleashed the darkness!" Manuel started sound more and more agitated the longer they stood and talked.

"Manuel! Please! This isn't the time," Dr. Warren exclaimed exasperated.

"We have to get going," Shepard started, not sure about leaving her alone with a deranged man.

"I understand," she smiled at them, "We'll be fine now. Thank you."

Shepard nodded to the doctors and turned to the GC, "Williams, take us to that spaceport."

"You can't stop it," Manuel called after them. "Nobody can stop it. Night is falling. The darkness of eternity."

"Hush, Manuel. Go lie down. You'll feel better once the medication kicks in," they heard the doctor say as they headed back out.

"This way, Commander," Williams said as she started to lead them to the right and back onto the main path.

Just before they reached the top of the particularly steep hill they were climbing, a gunshot rang out clear and loud around them. Shepard froze and focused in on the sound as it bounced around them. She tried to clear the extra noise from her mind and determine where the shot came from.

"Did you hear that?" Alenko asked?

"It came from ahead of us," Shepard called, rushing forward, "Towards the spaceport!"

As she cleared the crest of the hill, Commander Jennifer Sheppard froze.

Hovering just over the far side of the spaceport was a ship, massive in scale and terrifying in its presence. It was long and black with several parts extending off the front of it like fingers or arms. Red lightning arced off the ship as it rose toward the sky. It was the ship from teh vid.

"What is that? Off in the distance?" Alenko asked.

"It's a ship. Look at the size of it," Williams replied.

Billowing black smoke filled the air as it vanished into the sky.

"We've got geth down here, Commander," Alenko pointed out as scanned the spaceport down the hill from them.

As if he had called them by name, the geth focused in on their position and opened fire. They dove for cover as they loosed their own weapons. A second later they could hear the husks of what was once people rushing toward them.

Shepard popped up from behind her cover and shoot down one of the husks. Another was closing in on her fast. She fired off two shots before an alarm sounded, signaling her gun had overheated.

"Damn it!" She exclaimed as she reached for the shotgun behind her.

The husk was on her. Knowing her options were limited, she fired a shockwave at the creature. It went flying into the air. But she was too close. The force of blast knocked her back and into Alenko. Together they toppled to the floor.

"Commander!" Williams exclaimed. She crossed to their cover and in a couple of shots she'd put down the last of the geth and was helping Shepard up.

"Are you two okay?" She asked, a hint of a smile on her lips.

"Just fine," she assured the GC. "Let's just keep moving."

"There's a locked door over there, Commander," Alenko pointed across the way to another shed with a lock engaged.

"Let's check it out," Shepard ordered as they started moving again.

When they reached the door a simple bypass overrode the security lock and popped the door open.

"Everybody stay calm out there," a male voice called from inside. "We're coming out. We're not armed." Sheppard kept her gun up just the same.

Slowly three people emerged from within the dark shed. Two men and a woman. All looked terrified.

"Is it safe?" The woman asked, "Are they gone?"

"You're okay now. Nobody's going to hurt you," Shepard assured them.

"Those things were crawling all around the shed," the man who seemed to be in charge said. "They would have found us for sure. We owe you our lives."

"I . . . I still can't believe it. When we saw that ship I thought it was all over!" The woman exclaimed.

"It showed up right before the attack," the man explained to them. "I Knew it was trouble the second I saw it. So we made a break for the sheds."

"What else can you tell me about the ship you saw?" Shepard asked. She couldn't place why she felt so, but she knew the ship had more to do with what was going on there then she had first assumed.

"I was too busy running to get a clear look at it. I think it landed over near the spaceport," the leader said.

"Tell them about the noise Cole." The woman whispered frantically. "That awful noise."

"It was emitting some kind of signal as it descended," Cole explained. "Sounded like the shriek of the demanded. Only it was coming from inside your own head."

Shepard thought it over for a moment. "It was probably trying to block communications."

"Whatever it was, felt like it was tearing right through my skull. Almost made it impossible to think," Cole mumbled.

"It's safe here now. Stay low and out of sight and you should be fine," Shepard instructed them. "I have to go."

"Hey, Cole," the other man stammered. "We're just a bunch of farmers. These guys are soldiers. Maybe we should give them the stuff."

"Geez, Blake," Cole grumbled. "You gotta learn when to shut up!"

Shepard crossed her arms and stared at the man before her. "You have something to tell me Cole?"

"Some guys at the spaceport were running a small smuggling ring," he explained begrudgingly. "Nothing major. In exchange for a cut of the profits, we let them store packages in our sheds."

"You're breaking the law, Cole." She stated.

"We're not hurting anybody!" He shouted. "Hell most of the time we don't even know what's in the packages. I just thought there might be something we could use. I found a pistol. Figured it would come in handy if those things came back. But you'll probably get more use out of it that we will." He handed her a small pistol, similar to the one she already carried. She handed it to Alenko to holster it on his left side.

She watched the man fret and shrink under her gaze. He was still hiding something. "We're risking our lives to save this colony. You sure there's nothing else in here that could help us out?"

He sighed, defeated. "Yeah, there's one more thing. I was gonna sell it after this was over. Buy you probably deserve it more than I do."

He handed over some kind of information disk. She would have to analyze it later.

"Who's your contact at the spaceport Cole?" Williams demanded. "What's his name?"

"He's not a bad guy," he insisted. "I don't want to get him in trouble. Besides, I'm not a snitch!"

"He might have something to do with this whole attack, Cole," Shepard pressed. "We need his name. It's important."

She could see him give in.

"Yeah, okay. You're right," he sighed. "His name's Powell. Works the docks at the spaceport. If he's still alive."

"We have to go," she repeated as they turned to leave.

"Good luck," Cole called after them.

Shepard moved away from the three people as they huddled back inside the shed again. It was a quick trip down the small sloping path to the base of the spaceport. Every few feet something was on fire. The grass, a crate, the side of a building, even part of the lower port was burning.

As they made their way up the first set of stairs, Alenko broke off and rushed forward. Being a fair amount taller that she was, he could see over the crates stacked at the top of the ramp.

"Commander," he called, "it's Nihlus."

Shepard rushed forward to see the turian dead on the floor.

"A turian?" Williams asked, sounding almost shocked. "You know him?"

She nodded.

"He's a Spectre," Alenko explained as Shepard examined the body for evidence. "He was with us on the Nor . . ." A sound to their left cut him off.

In perfect unison the three turned to the presumed threat, guns at the ready.

"Something's moving," Williams whispered, "Over behind those crates."

"Wait!" A voice called from behind the crates. A man, a dockworker Shepard presumed by his clothing, walked slowing out in front of them. "Don't . . . don't shoot! I'm one of you! I'm human."

Shepard lowered her gun slightly. "Sneaking up on us like that nearly got you killed!"

With a nod from the Commander, Williams and Alenko turned their guns to their surroundings, scanning the area to ensure no surprises.

"I . . . I'm sorry," the man stammered. "I was hiding. From those creatures. My name is Powel. I saw what happened to that turian. The other one shot him."

"Other turian?" Shepard whispered to herself. She shot a glance at Alenko who shook his head. He didn't know of any other turian on this mission. "I need to know how Nihlus died."

Powel nodded, glad to be of help. "The other one got here first." He explained. "He was waiting when your friend showed up. He called him Saren. I think they knew each other. Your friend seemed to relax. He let his guard down . . . and Saren killed him. Shot him right in the back. I'm just lucky he didn't see me behind the crates."

A look passed between the three marines. No one had said anything about another turian being here. And the fact that he killed Nihlus, a Spectre, it was bad. All bad in fact. Shepard needed answers before she reported back to Anderson and to the Council.

"Where did this Saren go after he killed Nihlus?"

"He jumped on the cargo train and headed over to the other platform." Powel explained. "Probably going after the beacon. I knew that beacon was trouble. Everything's gone to hell since we found it. First that damn mother ship showed up. Then that attack. They killed everyone. Everyone! If I hadn't been behind the crates I'd be dead too!"

An odd thought struck the Commander.

"How come you're the only one who survived?" She asked. "Why didn't anyone else try to hide behind the crates?"

Powel blanched at the subject. He shifted uncomfortably and glanced off toward the cargo train. When he looked back at the three marines staring him down, he sighed. "They never had a chance. I . . . I was already behind the crates when the attack started."

"Wait a minute. You were hiding behind the crates before the attack?" Alenko asked, instantly suspicious.

"I . . . sometimes," he stammered. "I need a nap to get through my shift. I sneak off behind the crates to grab forty winks where the supervisors can't find me."

"You survived because you're lazy?!" Williams asked, sounding outraged.

The look of guilt that passed over his face was one the Commander knew all too well. It was a look she herself had, more times than she could count.

Survivor's guilt.

"If you hadn't snuck off for that nap you'd probably be dead just like all the others." She told him, trying to be encouraging.

"Yeah." He whispered, sounding the smallest measure better. "Yeah, I guess. I don't really want to think about it."

"Wait," Shepard started as a thought occurred to her. "You're Conner's contact here on the docks. For the smuggling ring." It was a question she needed to ask and a way to change the subject.

"What?" He shouted in fake outrage. "No! I mean . . . what does it matter now? So I'm a smuggler? Who cares? My supervisor is dead. The entire crew is dead. It doesn't matter now."

While the Commander tended to agree, if there was a rogue turian around on top of geth and those husks, they were going to need all the help they could get. "Anything hidden nearby that we could use against the geth?"

Powell glanced at her guiltily. "A shipment of grenades came through last week," he explained meekly. "Nobody notices if a few small pieces go missing from the military orders."

"You greedy son of a bitch!" Williams shouted, fully enraged. "We're out here trying to protect your sorry ass and all you can think about is how you can rip us off?!"

The look of guilt on Powel's face increased tenfold. "I never thought you'd actually need those grenades! Who'd want to attack Eden Prime? We're just a bunch of farmers! How was I supposed to know?" He was desperately trying to make an excuse for his actions. But his guilt was tearing him apart inside.

Williams stepped forward, gun trained on the poor man.

Shepard reached out and put a hand on her gun. "Forget about him. He's not worth it." She assured her.

Williams hesitated for a moment before she finally lowered her gun. "You're lucky the Commander is here, Powel. Hand over those grenades."

"They're yours. Take them. My smuggling days are over. I swear." His guilt was replaced with an intense sincerity.

"A lot of marines died here, Powel." She needed him to understand and find a purpose to help him move past this day. "Those grenades could have come in handy. If I were you, I'd think of some way to make it up to them."

"Yeah, Okay," he sighed as he thought for a moment. "There is something else I was saving. Could be worth a fortune. Experimental Tech. Top of the line. Take it. I don't need it. I don't want anyone to get hurt. Really. I'm sorry." His expression was genuine as he handed a small disk drive to the Commander.

Shepard nodded. "We need to find that beacon before it's too late."

"Take the cargo train," Powel explained. "That's where the other turian went. I . . . I can't stay here. I need to get away from all this." He waited for a moment until he was sure they didn't need him anymore. He quickly and quietly made his way as far from the spaceport as he could.

Shepard watched the man go, knowing she shouldn't pity a criminal, but feeling sorry for him all the same. As she turned to go, her omni-tool pinged again. Enemies were close by. Not needing to look, she felt Alenko and Williams at her side, guns raised.

Two geth sprang out from behind a few crates near the edge of the platform. They opened fire as the three dove to cover.

Williams opened fire first, staggering the closest geth back. Shepard used a biotic throw to topple the other one back down the ramp. Alenko moved in and used his throw to smash the first geth into the ground, disabling it.

The Commander rushed up with Williams and dispatched the other one with a round a bullets.

Before they could take another step forward, Williams Omni-tool pinged almost a dozen enemies just down the ramp and toward the train. With a nod they moved forward, down the ramp and onto the mail platform.

Geth lining the cargo train on all sides, opened fire on the three marines. They rushed for cover on the train. It was a long run but it was also the only viable cover around. By the time she had all managed to get down, Shepard's shields were depleted.

Knowing she couldn't risk taking a hit, she blind-fired over the top of her cover.

"Nice shot!" Williams called as she managed to take one of the geth down.

"Thanks!"

"What the hell is that?" Alenko asked.

Peeking over her cover the Commander saw a different kind of geth. Larger than the others and moving toward them at an alarming rate.

Even more troubling than all that, was the fact that it carried a large plasma pistol.

"Take it down!" Shepard shouted.

All three focused their attacks on the rapidly approaching enemy. With a throw from the biotics the large geth went down before it could reach them. The remaining enemies went down a few moments after.

"Let's hurry," Sheppard stated as she rushed up to the train controls.

Thankfully the train was relatively easy to operate. A few seconds later they were moving briskly down the track.

"We need to try and take this other turian alive," the Commander instructed. "He's our best chance at figuring out what happened here."

"Not to mention I'm sure the council is going to want words with him," Alenko added.

"Don't we all," Williams muttered.

"Keep your guard up and your eyes peeled for that beacon," she continued. "Looks like we're almost there."

As the train slowed the three omni-tools began to ping like crazy. "Great," Shepard muttered. "I'm not sure this mission could get any more fun."

An odd noise from Alenko's tool drew her attention.

"Commander I'm picking up some strange readings," he started. "It looks like explosives up ahead."

"I had to open my big mouth," she muttered.

The train slowed to a stop and they were instantly fired upon. Together they rushed off the train and toward the first bit of cover they could find from the barrage of bullets raining down on them.

"Demolition charges," Alenko called as they approached a strange white device. "The geth must have planted them. I'm picking up at least three more, Commander."

"Hurry! We need to find them all and shut them down," Williams shouted as she took down the two closest geth.

"Cover me," Shepard called as she set into disabling the first device. One of the perks of being and N7 was they trained you for just about any situation.

Including disabling a bomb under heavy fire.

Using her omnitool, the first device was down in a matter of seconds. They moved up the ramp, taking down geth as they went.

"Across this walkway," Alenko called as the move forward.

"Shit!" Williams cursed. "More geth incoming!"

"Take them out!" Shepard called. "We don't have much time."

"Aye, aye, ma'am!" Williams shouted as she opened fire, ripping several geth apart. Alenko popped up and used his throw to toss a few more off the side of the walkway.

"I see the next device," the Commander called. "Moving to disable!"

"We've got you covered!" Alenko called.

Keeping low she moved across the bridge and to the next device. Alenko and Williams kept her covered as she worked to disable it.

"Done!" She called as the device powered down. "Two more."

"This way Commander," Williams called as she rushed forward. Following her lead, Shepard followed. A few more geth were quickly dispatched as the moved to the third device. A few seconds later it too was powering down.

"One left," Alenko informed her, "this way."

Another shot from Williams and the last geth on her omnitool went down.

"I think we're clear," she called, "for now."

"Good job," Shepard called as she set into the last bomb. She could tell by the countdown on the device that she was running out of time. It would be a race to the finish.

"Commander?" Alenko asked, eyeing the cycling numbers.

"Almost there," she assured him.

Ten seconds left.

"Commander Shepard," Alenko pressed more urgently.

"Got it," she sighed as it powered down.

"That was too close," he sighed.

"Have a little faith," she assured him with a smile. "I disable bombs better than you fly a shuttle."

He laughed. "That's not that comforting."

Before she could reply her tool pinged again.

"Looks like we've got more geth," she called as they rushed into forward and down to the other side of the spaceport. Before they could cross the ramp they were hit by several more geth and a dozen or so husks.

It took a few minutes, but they dispatched them all the same. Together the three moved down the ramp and caught their first sight of the beacon.

It was tall and thin, looking more like a small radio tower than a beacon. As they started she noticed how it was emitting a kind of strange green glow. It set the hair on the back of the Commander's neck on edge.

Carefully they approached, keeping their guns up and scanning every dark corner or potential hiding place. Once the port had been searched thoroughly, they holstered their guns and approached the beacon.

"Normandy," Shepard called over the comm, "the beacon is secure. Request immediate evac."

"This is amazing," Alenko exclaimed in awe. "Actual working Prothean technology. Unbelievable."

"It wasn't doing anything like that when they dug it up," Williams whispered turning back to see if Shepard had gotten a hold of the Normandy. And what exactly that would mean for her.

Alenko took another step toward the beacon, feeling drawn to it somehow. "Something must have activated it."

"We're on our way to you, Shepard," Captain Anderson assured her. "Good work."

"Roger Normandy. Standing by." She turned to ask Williams if she would join them on the ship when she caught sight of Alenko. He was being dragged across the spaceport toward the beacon. He fought and struggled but couldn't get away.

It was like her body responded before she could process everything in front of her.

"Kaiden!" She cried rushing forward. Pushing past Williams she ran to him. He was being lifted in the air. Shepard jumped and caught him around the middle; using all of the strength she had, she threw him behind her and away from the beacon.

Williams caught him as the rolled. Shepard tried to get away but she was too close.

The beacon had her.

It lifted her in the air with a kind of force she had never felt before.

Then the images started.

Faster than she could count or make sense of, they flashed in her mind.

Death.

Destruction.

Chaos.

Synthetics vs. organics.

Whole civilizations wiped off the map.

Then the pain.

A pain that felt like her mind being ripped apart.

Soon it was so intense she wished for death so it would cease.

Then finally, blissfully, the world around her went dark.


	2. Chapter 2

Kaiden felt the pull of the beacon. At first he assumed it was nothing, just something the beacon had been triggered to do. By the time he realized the strength of the pull, it was too late. He was being sucked in.

Somewhere behind him he heard his name being called.

He couldn't turn to look.

His feet came off the ground.

A moment later he felt a pair of arms circle him and he was pulled away. He hit the ground and rolled. Looking up he could see Ash grab him as he tumbled and Shepard . . .

She was being lifted into the air.

She had pulled him away.

She'd saved him.

"Shepard!" He cried as he tried to rush to her.

Ashely held him back.

"No!" She shouted, "Don't touch her! It's too dangerous!"

Before he could get away there was a feeling, like thunder with no sound. It exploded out past Shepard and toppled them to the ground.

His head hit the metal floor of the spaceport and bounced violently.

He would have one of his migraines later to be sure, but right then he had bigger problems. He got to his feet as quickly as he could.

Shepard was lying motionless on the ground in front of what was left of the beacon. All it was now was a smoking pile of rubble. He rushed to her. It was obvious right away that she was still breathing. Something he was incredibly grateful for.

"Shepard?" He asked frantically, checking her pulse. "Shepard can you hear me?"

" _Alenko_?" Anderson's voice boomed over the comm. " _What's going on down there?_ "

"The beacon exploded!" He shouted, not sure why he was yelling. "Shepard's down. We need evac now!"

" _We're on our way. Sending the nav point for extraction now_ ," Joke cut in.

"On our way," Williams replied.

Kaiden lifted the Commander off the ground as carefully as he could, and together he and Ashley rushed to EZ. He'd never been so happy to see a shuttle in all his life.

"What the hell happened down there Alenko?" Anderson demanded as the LT carried the Commander off the shuttled and started rushing toward the elevator. "Who is this?" He asked eyeing Ashley as she jumped out of the shuttle.

"Gunnery Chief Ashely Williams, sir," she stated saluting the Captain. "Of the 212."

"Captain I can explain everything once we get the Commander to the med bay," Kaiden assured him as he stepped into the elevator.

"Fine," Anderson agreed as he stepped up next the LT and punched the button on the wall. The door slid closed as lift began to rise.

"Come on," Kaiden whispered urgently. "Why is this thing so slow?"

"Just hold on, we'll get there."

The elevator stopped and the door opened. Kaiden rushed forward, around the lift and toward the med bay. Thankfully the doctor was looking out the door as they approached.

"What happened?" She asked as the lieutenant and the Captain came rushing in.

"The beacon grabbed me, I got too close . . . I don't know," Kaidan started to explain. "Shepard pulled me back and it got her instead. It lifted her in the air and then exploded. She's been out ever since."

"Put her here," the doctor instructed. Nodding Kaidan lowered her onto the bed and stepped back so she could work.

"Alenko," Anderson stared. He watched the young man. His face was drawn and he was clearly completely wrapped up in what the doctor was doing with Shepard. He understood. Shepard had always been enigmatic and charming. Even as a dirty orphan on the street.

He had seen greatness in her that day. Not just in the way she fought a battle she knew she couldn't win. But also in the way she carried herself afterword. She could be downright enthralling.

"Kaidan," Anderson whispered sympathetically. "You've done all you can for her. Now I need you to tell me what happened down there."

"Of course, Captain," he nodded sheepishly.

Over the course of the next ten or so hours Kaidan explained and explained again to the Captain what had happened. Each time Anderson had different questions. At first he had tried to speak with the LT in private, but the young man refused to leave the medbay.

After the tenth hour rolled around he had started to doze.

By the time they were within Citadel space he was fast asleep in a chair next to the Commanders bed, with his head resting on the mattress beside her.

Anderson walked in, hoping for a progress report and stopped.

Dr. Chakwas saw him and walked over.

"Captain?" She asked pleasantly.

"Any change?" He asked.

"None yet, sir," she explained. "Her vitals are strong and her brainwaves are within normal range. As far as I can tell the Commander is in perfect health."

"Well if she isn't up by the time we get to the Citadel we can have the doctors there run tests," he decided.

"That would be best," she agreed.

"What about Alenko? Has he left her side?"

"Not even for a moment," she sighed. "The poor thing. I think he blames himself for what happened."

"Do you think that's all it is?" Anderson kept his voice light and conversational, but there was a distinct edge hidden under the pleasantries. An edge not lost on the doctor.

"I'm certain that's all it is, Captain."

"Good," he nodded.

"Captain, if I may ask?" Chakwas ventured.

"Of course, doctor," he replied. "What do you need?"

"Are you asking me about Alenko's emotions in this as their CO? Or do you have some kind of personal stake in this?"

"Doctor," he started to explained.

"Forgot I asked," she said quickly. "I'll let you know if anything changes."

"Thank you doctor." He turned and headed back through the door.

Kaidan stirred. Somewhere nearby he could hear his name. At first he ignored it, thinking he was still dreaming. Then the thought that it might be Shepard waking crossed his mind. His head snapped up and he looked around.

She was still asleep on the bed in front of him.

Checking over his shoulder he confirmed the doctor was still at her desk. He reached out and took the Commanders hand. As though the contact were a shock, she started to sir.

"Doctor?" He called. "Doctor Chakwas? I think she's waking up." He dropped her hand and stood.

Shepard felt a hand in hers, leading her away from the darkness of her sleep and dragging her toward the light. As she struggled to get her eyes to open, she could hear voices around her. She sat up slowly and looked around. Alenko was to her right, looking like he hadn't slept in a week, the doctor was coming around the other side of her bed. She sat up and hung her legs off the side, taking a mental stock of her faculties.

"You had us worried there, Shepard. How are you feeling?" She asked smiling kindly.

The Commander finished her quick mental assessment of her state of health. She seemed fine, although now her hair was braided as opposed to its normal bun.

"Minor throbbing," she replied. "Nothing serious. How long was I out?" She could tell by the looks on their faces it had been a while.

"About 15 hours," the doctor replied as she eyed the clock on the wall. "Something happened down there with the beacon I think." She shot a look at Alenko.

"It's my fault," he replied guiltily. "I must have triggered some kind of security field when I approached it. You had to push me out of the way."

She could see how much the knowledge that it might be his fault weighed on him. So she smiled at him kindly and said, "You had no way to know what would happen."

He met her eye and smiled, genuinely relieved.

"Actually we don't even know if that's what set it off," Chakwas sighed. "Unfortunately, we'll never get the chance to find out."

Shepard looked at the doctor confused.

"The beacon exploded," Alenko explained as he walked around in front of her. "A system overload maybe. The blast knocked you out cold. Williams and I had to carry you back here to the ship."

She felt her cheeks redden slightly. "I appreciate it."

He nodded and smiled, clearly not missing her blush.

"Physically you're fine," the doctor explained as Shepard slid off the bed and onto her feet. She wobbled for a moment but managed to right herself before she could fall. "But I detected some unusual brain activity, abnormal beta waves. I also noticed in increase in your rapid eye movement, signs typically associated with intense dreaming."

Images from before flashed in her mind, over and over again. "I saw . . . I'm not sure what I saw," she tried to explain. "Death. Destruction. Nothing's really clear."

"Hmm. I better add this to my report. It may . . . oh Captain Anderson," the doctor started.

"How's our XO holding up, doctor?" He asked as he walked around to see her.

"All the readings look normal. I'd say the commander's going to be fine."

"Glad to hear it," he smiled. He turned and addressed her directly. "Shepard, I need to speak with you . . . in private."

A look passed between the three other people in the room. Dr. Chakwas nodded to Shepard, Kaidan and the Captain before she turned and headed out of her sick-bay.

"Aye, aye, Captain," Kaidan replied with a salute. Then he turned and addressed her. "I'll be in the mess if you need me." He flashed her a brief smile and then left as well.

As soon as the room was empty, Anderson visibly relaxed. He was her commanding officer, but in a lot of ways, he was more than that. She had never said it aloud, but she thought of him as a father figure. Or the closest thing she had to one anyway.

"Sounds like that beacon hit you pretty hard, Commander," he stated, looking her over. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'll live." She replied. Knowing that the details of how and where she hurt would only pain him.

He could tell there was more. But he knew better than to press her for more than she as willing to give. He had learned a long time ago just how private she could be.

"I won't lie to you Shepard," He sighed, "Things look bad. Nihlus is dead. The beacon was destroyed and geth are invading. The Councils going to want answers."

She nodded. The same thought had already crossed her mind, a few times. She had hoped to catch up to the other turian, Saren, but after the beacon exploded, she'd lost that chance.

"I didn't do anything wrong Captain," she said finally. "Hopefully the council can see that."

"I'll stand behind your report, Shepard," Anderson reassured her. "You're a damned hero in my books.

"That's not why I'm here. It's Saren, that other turian. Saren's a spectre, one of the best. A living legend. But if he's working with the geth it means he's gone rouge. A rouge Spectre's trouble. Saren's dangerous. And he hates humans."

She heard what he was saying. Saren certainly wasn't the only alien out there who didn't like their kind. Definitely not the only turian. Still something he was saying didn't add up in her.

"He didn't come to Eden Prime because he hates humans," she stated finally.

Anderson nodded, "You're right. Saren has allied himself with the geth. I don't know how. I don't know why. But it had something to do with that beacon.

"You were there just before that beacon self-destructed. Did you see anything? Any clue that might tell us what Saren was after?"

She hesitated. Yes she had seen something. But how could she possibly describe what she had seen to him when she couldn't make heads or tails of it herself. And what if it turned out it was just some dream? A freak reaction the beacon or the stress of a new position.

Shepard looked up to find her captain looking at her in a way that suggested he knew there was something she wasn't saying.

With a sigh she said, "Just before I lost consciousness, I had some kind of . . . vison."

"A vision? A vision of what?"

"I saw synthetics," she explained as she struggled to put the pieces together in her mind. "Geth, maybe. Slaughtering people. Butchering them."

Anderson didn't hesitate, "We need to report this to the Council, Shepard."

She dismissed the idea right away. "What will we tell them? I had a bad dream?"

He waved such notions away. "We don't' know what kind of information was stored on that beacon. Lost Prothean technology? Blueprints for some ancient weapon of mass destruction? Whatever it was, Saren took it.

"But I know Saren. I know his reputation, his politics. He believes humans are a blight on the galaxy. This attack was an act of war! He has the secrets from the beacon. He has an army of geth at his command. And he won't stop until he's wiped humanity from the face of the galaxy." He slammed his fist into his hand. He was heated, down right pissed if she was being honest.

"I'll find some way to take him down," she assured him, not sure she like how angry he was suddenly.

"It's not that easy." Anderson sighed. "He's a Spectre. He can go anywhere, do almost anything. That's why we need the council on our side."

"We prove Saren's gone rouge and the council will revoke his Spectre status," she reminded him.

He nodded, looking in better spirits. "I'll contact the ambassador and see if he can get us an audience with the Council. He'll want to see us as soon as we reach the Citadel. We should be getting close now. Head up to the bridge and tell Joker to bring us in to dock." He glanced at her pale face and the way she was leaning against the wall for support. "Whenever you're ready, of course." He smiled at her and headed out of the room.

Finally alone she carefully checked herself out. Her head was killing her and she could feel her brain thumping where her implants were. She created a small biotic barrier around her hand and then transferred it to the other. Pleased her biotics seemed intact, she turned her attention to her left shoulder. It stung sharply as she rotated it.

Bruised she guessed.

Satisfied nothing else seemed to be damaged, she headed out the door.

Alenko was standing a short ways away from the med bay, leaning against the wall that separated the mess from the hall. She could also see Williams over by the lockers next to the Captains quarters and the doctor was a small ways away from her.

"Glad to see you're ok, Commander," Alenko called as she approached. He looked around awkwardly when he realized how loud he had been. "Commander," he restated quieter when she was only a few feet from him. "I'm glad to see you're okay. Losing Jenkins was hard on the crew. And I'm glad we didn't lose you too." He smiled shyly.

"Things were pretty rough down there," she agreed quietly.

"Yeah," he replied grimly. "You never get used to seeing dead civilians. Doesn't seem right, somehow. But at least you stopped Saren from wiping out the whole colony."

She felt her cheeks color slightly. "I couldn't have done it without you," she told him truthfully.

"We're marines," he replied as his cheeks colored. "We stick together. I'm just sorry we lost Jenkins."

She nodded sadly. "Yeah . . . I wish I could've done something to save him." She hadn't meant to say the last part aloud. She wasn't usually so sociable about her feelings.

He shook his head adamantly. "I was there. You did everything right. It was just bad luck.

"It's been a hell of a shakedown cruise. Our first mission ends with one Spectre killing another. The Citadel Council's not gonna be happy about that. Probably use it to lever more concession out of the Alliance."

She completely agreed with him, and if she was being honest, she was a little impressed. "You've got a good grasp of the situation, Alenko. You a career man?"

He smiled again. "Just Kaidan, ma'am, and yeah. A lot of biotics are. We're not restricted, but we sure don't go undocumented. May as well get a paycheck for it.

"Besides my father served. Made him proud when I enlisted. Eventually. But is that why you're here? Because of your family?"

She blanched slightly. "I never met my parents. If they wanted to see me they'd have contacted me after that mess a few years back." Again she was saying too much. She never told people that she was an orphan. She hated the way they looked at her when she did. That look of sympathy made her skin crawl. Shepard had fought all her life to be able to stand on her own two feet and not be reliant on others.

She was sure they would all wonder then too. Wonder why her parents had given her up.

Wonder what was wrong with her.

Kaidan could tell her family was a sensitive subject so he moved on to something he thought she would like to discuss.

"Ah, that's right. The blitz. I imagine that bought you any post in the fleet." When he saw her face go even paler he knew he had just made things worse. "Word is we're headed to the Citadel, ma'am. Can you tell me why?" He grasped for a different topic.

She looked instantly better with the conversation change. "The captain hopes the Ambassador can get us an audience with the council. Tell them what Saren's been up to."

He nodded. "Makes sense. They'd probably like to know he's not working for them anymore. Whatever happens, we'll be ready. Commander." He saluted her and she returned the gesture.

She knew she needed to get to the CIC and talk to Joker. But she could see Williams fretting in the corner, watching the other marines walk by. With a final nod to Kaidan she headed over.

Williams saw her coming and smiled, looking relived. "I'm glad you're ok commander. The crew could use some good news after what happened to Jenkins."

"Jenkins was a valuable part of the crew," she replied.

"Part of me feels guilty over what happened," she admitted. "If Corporal Jenkins was still alive, I might not be here."

Shepard shook her head. "You're a good soldier, Williams. You belong on the Normandy."

"Just call me Ash, Commander. And Thanks. That means a lot from you. I've never met anyone who was awarded the Star of Terra."

Not wanting to discuss the blitz again, she nodded to Ash and said, "I need to go speak with Joker."

"Who's Joker?" She asked, a confused.

"Our pilot."

"Odd name for a pilot," she observed.

"From what I understand, it suits him."

She nodded, consideringly. "Goodbye, Commander."

Shepard nodded and moved off.

Around the mess tables and past the elevator. Then up the stairs and across the CIC floor. A lot of the navigators and other marines on deck stared at her as she walked past. Whether or not they were looking at her because she was finally awake, or because they blamed her for Jenkins, she couldn't tell.

By the time she entered the cockpit she'd never felt so happy to be in a room with just one other person.

"Good timing, Commander," Joker noted as she walked into this field of view. "I was just about to bring us into the Citadel. See that taxpayer money at work."

She nodded but kept her eyes focused on the windows.

A few seconds later they slowed down and passed through the Citadel's relay. Through some of the purple haze of the nebula, Shepard could just make out the strangely floral shape of the seat of government for the entire galaxy.

Bootsteps behind her pulled her attention.

Kaidan and Ash were both headed up the walkway toward the cockpit. They seemed to be exchanging some polite conversations as they walked.

"I didn't think any of you had seen the Citadel first hand," Joker explained quietly. "So I thought I'd invite everybody up." He looked at her with a smile that she knew meant something more than it did on the surface. But what it meant was beyond her.

"Look at the size of that ship," Ash exclaimed coming up beside her.

Outside the window was the largest ship she'd ever seen. It was clearly asari, you could tell by the architecture. The way it made a cross with a large opening at the center. It looked like it could house an entire army if it needed too.

"The Ascension. Flagship of the Citadel Fleet." Kaidan stated knowingly.

"Yeah, well size isn't everything," Joker muttered under his breath.

Ash laughed. "Why so touchy Joker?" She asked mockingly.

"I'm just saying you need firepower too," he replied defensively.

"Look at that monster!" She exclaimed. "Its main gun could rip through the barriers on any ship in the alliance fleet."

"Good thing it's on our side then," Kaidan observed with a smile toward the commander.

Joker rolled his eyes at the lot of them and tapped a few buttons on his virtual command board. There was a click that signaled a comm line was now open. "Citadel Control, this is the SSV Normandy requesting permission to land."

As he waited for a response, Shepard watched as they flew through hundreds of ships. Turian cruisers, asari frigates, even an Alliance patrol ship or two. So many of them all in one place. The fact they weren't crashing into each other seemed like a small miracle to her.

The comm line clicked. " _Stand by for clearance Normandy. Clearance granted. You may begin your approach. Transferring you to an alliance operator_."

"Roger Alliance tower. Normandy out."

Shepard looked at Joker. He was talking with Kaidan as he waited for the operator. His hands moved up and down his controls without him even having to look. It was like he was controlling the ship with his mind instead of his hands.

She was impressed.

The comm clicked again.

" _Normandy this is alliance tower. Please proceed to dock_."

Joker turned his attention back to the controls before him as he swept the ship around in a graceful arc. He pulled up to the set of docks marked "Alliance" and easily parked the ship into one of the large openings protected by mass effect fields.

There was a strange sound as the docking platform extended out and connected with the ships main door, just behind the cockpit.

"Are we good to go, Joker?" Anderson asked as he walked into the room.

"Docked and ready, Captain," he assured him. "Any orders while you're away?"

"Yes. Run a full diagnostic on her. Pay special attention to the stealth systems. I want to know they can handle everything we were promised. Shepard, Alenko, Williams, I want you three to suite up and be ready to go in no more than five minutes."

"Sir?" Ash asked confused.

"I'm taking you three with me to report to the Council. As the ground team they may have questions for you."

"Yes sir," the three chimed as the moved off to change.

"I've never been to the Citadel before," Ash commented quietly as they made their way toward the stairs.

"Neither have I," Shepard admitted.

"Really, Commander?" Kaidan asked, sounding surprised. "I would have thought with your service record . . ."

"I was stationed at colonies with my unit," she cut in, not wanting to hear about the blitz again. "We bounced from planet to planet in the Terminus system. Going where we were needed."

"Oh," Kaidan remarked quietly.

"I thought they had some big ceremony for you after the blitz?" Ash asked, not catching Shepard's grimace.

"They did," she confirmed. "But that was held on Elysium."

"Oh, that's right," Kaidan nodded as they stepped onto the crew deck. "I remember now."

"What about you Kaidan?" She asked, looking for a subject change. "Have you ever been?"

"Uh, once," he stammered. "Back when I first enlisted. We pulled in, docked the ship and waited for our CO to return. Then we left."

"So you've never been here either." Ash countered.

"Not really, no." He admitted sheepishly.

"Well it'll be the first time for all of us then," Shepard observed as they stopped outside the barracks. "See you on the bridge," she said to Kaidan as she and Ash headed in to change.

"Yeah," he whispered as he watched her go. "See you there."

"So what's up with you and the LT?" Ash asked as soon as the door hissed closed behind them.

"Kaidan?" Shepard asked confused. "Nothing is up with us. I just met him today . . . er well yesterday technically. Why do you ask?"

"Because of the way he looks at you," she stated matter-of-factly. "The whole walk from the bridge to here he didn't take his off of you once!"

She waved away Ash's words. "Kaidan is just worried I'm still hurt from the beacon. He feels responsible. That's all."

"If you say so, Commander," she said in a way that told Shepard she didn't believe her at all.

A few minutes later the three were standing on the bridge waiting for the Captain. He was talking quietly to Joker and stopped abruptly as the three came entered.

"Commander," he addressed her respectfully, and not at all the way she was used to. "If you and your squad are ready, the Ambassador is waiting."

"We're ready sir," she assured him with a nod.

"Then let's go." He walked past them and opened the exterior door of the ship. There was a loud hiss as the area beyond pressurized to match the atmosphere in the ship, and then the door slid up and away. Anderson walked out and punched a code into a pad near another door.

" _Equalizing interior pressure with exterior atmosphere_ ," the ships VI announced. " _Logged: The commanding office is ashore. XO Pressley has the deck._ "

A third door parted open revealing a large docking bay, empty aside from the Normandy. Anderson walked out and headed right to a large elevator, completely ignoring the view to their left. Shepard walked out and stopped.

To the left the whole bay opened up out to space. Beyond the kinetic barrier that kept the atmosphere from escaping, a whole arm of the Citadel opened up before them.

Buildings, lights and skyscrapers stretched on for what felt like eternity. Everything twinkled in a way that made it look more like a dreamscape as opposed to a vast floating city. Before she knew what she was doing, Shepard had started forward, walking up the boarding plank toward its edge. She stopped at the bars and looked out over the beautiful city.

"It's quite the view," Kaidan commented.

She turned to see that he had followed her up to the edge and was also taking in the sight of the Citadel.

"You can say that again," she confirmed, turning back. "Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?"

She hadn't meant for the question come out sounding rhetorical. She was genuinely curious if the LT had ever seen anything so magnificent in his travels. But being in awe as she was, the question had come out sounding completely different than she intended.

Kaidan glanced to the commander. He took in her blonde hair, piled behind her head in a sloppy bun. It was long, impressively long for a marine. He had found this out while carrying her back to the ship after the bacon. It had come lose as he ran and cascaded down his arm like a sheet of pure gold.

He estimated it had to be down to her hips, at least. When she was being treated after Eden Prime, Chakwas had pulled it back in a braid to keep it out of the way and to keep her from pulling it while she slept.

His eyes moved to the freckles that dusted the bridge of her nose and her cheeks. He found them endearing somehow. Finally he looked to her eyes. Dark green with a ring of blue around the outside and ring of gold around the inside. He'd never seen eyes like hers before.

"I think I have," he said quietly and without thinking.

Suddenly the eyes he had been admiring turned and met his.

For a moment neither spoke.

Shepard knew that she should turn away and follow Anderson. He was no doubt waiting for them. And what would he think when he saw her standing staring at the lieutenant this way? Not only was it not the reason she was there, but it was a serious violation of the regs regarding fraternization.

"I remember the first time I saw this view," Anderson commented as he walked up next to them.

Shepard and Kaidan looked away, both coloring slightly. Anderson, having not notice the moment going on between the two, stood between them looking out over the vast span of the arm.

"It took my breath away to see such beauty here. But this only one of many impressive things to see," he sighed and stepped away. "But first we have to meet with Udina. Come on, he's not a man who enjoys being kept waiting."

"Of course, sir," Sheppard responded.

"Yes, sir," Kaidan added simultaneously.

They walked down and met Ash who was looking nervously around. When she caught sight of Shepard and Kaidan being led back down, blushing like teenagers caught making out behind the gym, she had to clap her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

Shepard met her eyes and glared at the smiling woman.

"Nice view, Commander?" She asked as they headed for the elevator.

"It was spectacular," Kaidan answered for her, his cheeks still red.

"I bet it was," Ash muttered under her breath. She nudged Shepard as she walked past and smiled at her in a way that made the commander want to punch the chief in the arm.

The four piled in the elevator and Anderson hit the button. A strange and upbeat song played lightly over the speakers. The elevator itself was mostly glass. Shepard looked around, trying to see if she could catch a glance of wherever they were headed.

"Where are we headed, Captain?" Ash asked as she glanced round the elevator.

"This lift will take us down to C-Sec academy and then we'll grab a sky car to the embassies. Ambassador Udina is waiting for us in his office there," Anderson explained. "Then hopefully we'll be off to see the council."

"Do you think they'll listen, sir?" Ash asked, sounding doubtful.

"They'll have too."

After another moment or so they passed beyond the wall they were traveling next to, and the floor below became visible. At once Shepard was struck by how large the area below was. She could see trees, doorways, stairways, and more turians than she had ever seen in one place.

But not just turians. There were asari, salarians, elcor, a few volis, and even a human or two. All wandering around, going about their lives as though being on this magnificent space station was just a part of everyday life. Although she supposed, for them anyway, it was.

The elevator stopped and after a second's pause, the glass door slid up and Anderson walked out, headed to the right. Clearly he had been here so many times the view didn't faze him anymore. Shepard wanted to stop and stare open mouthed at all the aliens just coming and going. She knew that it made her seem like a tourist to do so. But everything was so amazing.

Keeping herself in toe with Anderson, they headed to the right and stopped at an orange screen attached to a podium. Next to that there was a red skycar with a banner that read: "Rapid Transport Taxi Service. The Citadel's fastest way to travel". He punched a few buttons into the screen and waited. A second later the door hissed and opened to the side and the windshield lifted up. Anderson stepped in and settled into the driver's seat.

Before Shepard could take the seat next to him, Ash rushed past her and took the seat up front. Leaving her to the back with Kaidan.

"Problems, Commander?" She asked as Shepard scowled down at her.

"None, Chief," she grumbled. She stepped into the back and sidestepped so she was now sitting directly behind Ash. Kaidan smiled slightly as he took the seat next to her.

"You can fly this thing inside?" Ash asked.

"Of course," Anderson replied with a laugh. "We'll fly straight up and out past the elevator shaft toward the presidium."

"Flying cars inside," Shepard whispered.

"Pinnacle of fancy," Kaidan replied just as quietly.

The car lifted up and carefully the Captain flew up and over to a second elevator shaft, directly across from the one they had just come down in. Also completely glass, there was some kind of light filtering down from the top. Around the back side there was a large double door hatch that opened as the car rose toward it.

The light was so bright compared to the dark of C-Sec that Shepard had to look away. And who should be looking away in her directions.

Kaidan.

Their eyes met again and just like before, she found it hard to look away from those amber eyes. He stared at her and she stared back.

"Look at that?" Ash stated in awe.

They both looked away and out the windows.

There was a lake.

An actual lake.

Of water.

Spanning the center of the Presidium as far in each direction as she could see. It even followed the curve of the ring up. It was amazing and just a bit miraculous. There was sunshine up above them and what looked like clouds and sky.

"What is that?" She asked.

"The fake sky," Anderson answered. "A lot of people find the lack of sunlight and sky disheartening. Hundreds of years ago the Council found a way to implement a kind of screen that constantly shows a sunny sky. The clouds even move."

"That's incredible," Kaidan commented.

A second later they were descending again. Anderson shut the taxi off and opened the doors. The four got out and found themselves at the Citadel Embassies. There was some kind of asari shaped AI directly across from them. Across from that there was several areas with seats and a board displaying several different languages worth of information. Then there was an actual asari sitting at a desk looking very busy. On either side of the desk there was a flight of stairs that lead off somewhere Shepard couldn't see.

Anderson started forward, once again ignoring the area around him. He nodded to the asari and headed off to the right of the desk and up the flight of stairs. He waved a pass at a green pad near the door and it slid open with a hiss.

He kept walking.

Up the walkway and through a door on the right.

As soon as the door opened Shepard could hear someone yelling.

Once she stepped in she saw quite plainly the owner of the voice.

A short man with grey white hair was shouting at a red holographic display of three figures.

One turian.

One asari.

And one salarian.

The Council.

"This is an outrage!" The man shouted as he waved his arms around. "The council would have stepped in if the geth attacked a turian colony!"

"The turians don't found colonies on the boarders of the terminus systems, ambassador," the salarian councilor stated, sounding agitated. Quietly the four walked in and waited for the ambassador to be done.

"Humanity was well aware of the risks when you went into the traverse," the asari councilor added.

"What about Saren?" Udina shouted. "You can't just ignore a rouge Spectre. I demand action."

"You don't get to make demands of the Council, Ambassador," the turian councilor warned.

"Citadel security is investigating your charge against Saren," the asari councilor stated. "We will discuss the C-Sec findings at the hearing. Not before."

Together the councilors each reached forward and pushed a button they couldn't see. At once their images waved and disappeared. Anderson stepped forward at once.

"Captain Anderson," the Ambassador said condescendingly. "I see you brought half your crew with you."

"Just the ground team from Eden Prime. In case you had any questions," he explained.

"I have the mission reports. I assume they're accurate," he commented as he regarded them with clear disdain.

"They are," Anderson assured him, biting back the words he wanted to say to the disrespectful man. "Sounds like you convinced the council to give us an audience."

Udina walked over to his desk, clearly angry. "They were not happy about it. Saren's their top agent. They don't like him being accused of treason."

Shepard had enough of the man's belittling tone. "Saren's a threat to every human colony out there. He needs to be stopped. The council has to listen to us!"

"Settle down commander," Udina said, not pleased by her convictions. "You've already done more than enough to jeopardize your candidacy for the spectres. The mission on Eden Prime was a chance to prove you could get the job done. Instead, Nihlus ended up dead and the beacon was destroyed."

"That's Saren's' fault, not hers!" Anderson shouted, instantly on her side.

"Then we better hope the C-Sec investigation turns up evidence to support our accusations," he stated. "Otherwise the council might use this as an excuse to keep you out of the spectres. Come with me Captain. I want to go over a few things before the hearing. Shepard, you and the others can meet us at the Citadel tower. Top level. I'll make sure you have clearance to get in."

Anderson nodded to Shepard before walking off with the Ambassador.

"And that's why I hate politicians," Ash commented dryly after the door had closed.

"I'm starting to come around to that kind of thinking," Shepard commented.

"Should we get going then?" Kaidan asked.

"We might not want to follow them too closely," Ash observed.

"Agreed," Shepard sighed. She leaned against the railing on the balcony, overlooking the presidium below. For a moment she just watched the people go on about their day, heedless of the danger that Saren posed to them.

For a moment she worried she might not be enough to protect them. If the Council denied their request, or refused to believe them because they were human; who knows what could happen.

They had to believe her.

"You okay, Commander?" Ash asked.

"Yeah," she replied, waving the concern on the Chiefs face away. "I think that's a good enough head start. We should get going."

"Right behind you, Commander," Kaidan assured her.

Together the three set off out the door they had entered through and down the steps again. They had to side step a salarian who seemed to be in too much of hurry to say excuse me. They fell back against a wall as another three salarian's plowed through.

"Sometimes I can't tell the aliens from the animals," Ash muttered angrily.

"Chief!" Kaidan exclaimed.

"Sorry," she muttered, not meaning it at all.

Shepard made a mental note to discuss Ash's comments later.

"This way," the Commander said as she started toward same sky car they had arrived in.

The doors hissed open and Shepard jumped in. The car hummed to life as she sat in the driver's seat. Ash sat behind her, pointedly nudging her in the arm as she went. Kaidan took the seat next to her and laughed as she tried to acquaint herself with the controls.

"Need some help?" He asked.

"No," she told him scowling. She hit a button and a screen popped up in the center of the dashboard.

"Welcome to Freedom Sky Car Taxi Services." A VI image of a female turian popped up on screen. "Please select a destination from the list below." The screen changed to show six location. The presidium and each of the five arms was listed. Shepard looked around for a moment and then touched the presidium button.

The list changed to reflect more places than she thought could exist on this small ring. Thankfully at the top of the first page was the Citadel Tower. She touched the button and the car lifted into the air on its own.

"VI driven sky car," she muttered. "Wave of the future."

Kaidan and Ash chuckled as they headed off toward a large white town she hadn't seen before. The way the ring curved it was hard to see things more than several hundred feet before you.

It was only a second later the tower came into full view.

It shot up into the "sky" so far that the three were craning their necks to get a better view of the top.

"That is a big tower," Kaidan mumbled as the car started to climb. A few floors from the top the car slowed and large door slid open. The car flew in slowly and parked itself in one of the few open spaces available.

"Thank you for using Freedom Taxi services. A fee of thirty credits has been charged to Commander Jennifer Shepard's account."

"Your first name is _Jennifer_?" Ash asked with a laugh. "I thought I got a bum deal with Ashley."

"Chief," she said with a frustrated sigh. "You are under my commander. Don't force me to make you regret that."

Both Kaidan and Ash laughed at her obvious displeasure. She was struck by how odd they must look. She was their commanding officer and she should be doing more to keep them in line like any other commander would. Still as they sat in that sky car, chuckling about her name, she felt less like a commander with her subordinates and more like a woman with her friends.

She didn't have a lot in the way of friends.

This was a little new but good.

Definitely good.

"Let's get going," she grumbled, even though she too smiling.

The three got out of the car and headed for the large white door marked elevator. They pushed the button and filled in. There was only one button for the floor above them. Shepard pushed it and the doors hissed closed.

As the lift climbed, slowly, she could feel Ash fidgeting behind her.

"The councils going to ask us questions, aren't' they?" She asked.

"I doubt it," Kaidan replied. "We've made our reports. Now we just have to trust Ambassador Udina."

"No, sir. We don't," Ash sighed in a way that made Shepard think she had a long history with politicians or perhaps just bureaucrats in general.

As the doors slid open, Shepard forgot the question she was going to ask the Chief.

"My god," Kaidan exclaimed.

"It's beautiful," she said.

From the elevator the room extended out in a long a somewhat narrow path. High walls on either side supported beautiful cherry blossom trees. Their delicate pink petals were in full bloom and some where even drifting slowly down to the floor.

Across from the elevator, where the room opened up more, there was a beautiful fountain. A few people were leaning against the railing talking in quiet whispers. The whole area seemed to shimmer in a way that made her wonder what they were putting in the air in here.

As they walked around the fountain and up the first set of steps they started to hear shouting. It seemed so out of sorts for a place like this that at first, Shepard thought she was hearing things.

Up the first set of stairs and she could see that she was not, in fact, imagining the voices. A few feet away in front of a large tree, shrouded by several large rocks, stood two turian males, both arguing quite heatedly.

"Saren's hiding something!" The one to the left shouted. He was dressed in the blue armor of a C-Sec officer. "Give me more time. Stall them." His face and mandibles were a warm grey color and the paint on his face, the little there was, was the same blue as his uniform.

"Stall the council?" The other turian shouted. He was older than the one in blue and from the look of his uniform to the white paint on his face, Shepard was sure she was looking at the Executor for C-Sec. "Don't be ridiculous! Your investigation is over, Garrus."

The Executor turned and walked away, leaving Garrus to stare after him in anger. As he passed by Shepard his eyes fell on her. Blue like so much of the rest of him, and piercing in a way that was almost uncomfortable.

"Commander Sheppard?" He asked her, not looking away.

"That's me," she confirmed.

"Garrus Vakarian," he introduced himself as he extended his hand. "I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren."

She clasped his hand and asked, "Who were you just talking to?"

He sighed, frustrated. "That was Executor Pallin, head of Citadel Security. My boss. He'll be presenting my findings on Saren to the Council." He was clearly still upset.

An odd thought cropped up in her head. Why did this turian want to bring Saren down so badly? He was, after all, one of his kind.

Knowing that asking that aloud would make her seem racist and not the least bit ignorant, she said, "Sounds like you really want to bring him down."

Garrus looked away from her finally. He took in her crew and appraised them with hard eyes. All human. He could tell where this conversation was headed.

"I don't trust him." He explained as he crossed his arms defensively in front of himself. "Something about him rubs me the wrong way. But he's a Spectre; everything he touches is classified. I can't find any hard evidence."

She wanted to ask him why Saren rubbed him that way and see if he had any other information on him. But before she could, Kaidan stepped up and put a hand on her shoulder. Not an intimate embrace, but also not exactly appropriate.

"I think the Council's ready for us, Commander," he explained before he stepped back.

Garrus seemed to relax a little. "Good luck, Shepard," he sighed, locking eyes with her again. "Maybe they'll listen to you." He nodded to Kaidan and Ash before heading down the stairs and toward the elevator.

Knowing she'd delayed too long already, Shepard shook all thoughts of the turian away and headed up the next set to steps, toward the Council chambers.

Now the area opened up to a large flat landing filled with trees, benches and two wings on either side with more seating. Most likely for private conversations. Then there was another set of steps, split in half by a large planter with another tree.

At the next landing she could see Anderson looking for her, impatiently. They rushed forward, taking the steps two at a time.

"The hearings already started," he explained as he ushered them forward. "Come on." Together they all but ran up the last narrow set of steps.

Once at the top she almost paused again.

The room was enormous.

Huge ceilings and a wall made almost completely out of glass on one side. Then below that a platform where the three councilors stood. To the left there was a giant holographic projection of Saren, leering down at them. Directly across from the stairs the walk way extended out into another platform that hovered over a glass atrium of some kind. Through the glass she could see another garden like area and wondered if people were ever allowed down there.

"The geth attack is a matter of some concern," the asari councilor was saying. "But there is nothing to indicate Saren was involved in any way."

"The investigation by Citadel Security turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason," the turian councilor added, looking seriously displeased. It took her a moment but she was certain she knew their names.

Sparatus! That was the turian's name.

"An eyewitness saw him kill Nihlus in cold blood!" Udina shouted, his face going red.

"We've read the Eden Prime reports, Ambassador," The salarian councilor, Valern, countered "The testimony of one traumatized dockworker is hardly compelling proof."

"I resent these accusations." Saran scoffed. "Nihlus was a fellow Spectre. And a friend."

"That just let you catch him off guard!" Anderson shouted, madder than she'd ever seen him.

"Captain Anderson," he sneered, his words dripping with disdain. "You always seem to be involved when humanity makes false charges against me." His image turned and looked down at her. "And this must be your protégé, Commander Shepard. The one who let the beacon get destroyed."

She was floored!

How dare he talk to Anderson that way! Let alone drag her into it.

"The mission to Eden Prime was top secret," she stated, thinking she'd caught him in a lie. "The only way you could know about the beacon was if you were there!"

"With Nihlus gone, his files passed on to me," he explained, waving her accusations away. "I read the Eden Prime report. I was unimpressed. But what can you expect from a human?"

Her temper, something she always managed to keep in check, boiled over.

"Saren despises humanity!" She shouted to the Council, completely forgetting her place. That's why he attacked Eden Prime!"

Saren glowered at her as his red image flickered and waved. "Your species needs to lean its place, Shepard," he chastised her like a child. "You're not ready to join the council. You're not even ready to join the Spectres!"

Before she cold scream something else, Udina stepped up, putting himself between her and Council. "He has no right to say that!" He shouted. "That's not his decision!"

The asari councilor, Tevos, Shepard thought her name was, if she was remembering right, looked up to Saren and said, "Shepard's admission into the Spectres is not the purpose of this meeting." Something about the way she said it reminded the commander of the way an overly indulgent mother spoke to a spoiled child.

"This meeting has no purpose," he declared as though he was suddenly the authority on the matter. "The humans are wasting your time, Councilor. And mine."

Shepard scowled at him. "Saren's hiding behind his potion as a Spectre!" She cried, pleading with the council. "You need to open your eyes!"

"What we need," Valern cut in, "is evidence. So far, we have seen nothing."

"There is still one outstanding issue," Anderson said. He stepped forward, looking like a desperate man. "Commander Shepard's vision. It may have been triggered by the beacon."

She baulked.

Anderson had never mentioned his intent to bring this up here, today.

"Are we allowing dreams into evidence now?" Saren scoffed. "How can I defend my innocence against this kind of testimony?"

"I agree," Sparatus nodded. "Our judgment must be based on facts and evidence, not wild imaginings and reckless speculation."

"Do you have anything else to add, Commander Shepard?" Valern asked, looking doubtful and not the least bit board.

Yes, she had many things she would like to add to this meeting. Many things she would relish saying to all four of them. But as she looked around the room she could see in indifference in their eyes. Nothing she said had mattered, and nothing she would say could change that.

"You've made your decision. I won't waste my breath," she stated at last.

Tevos looked to Sparatus who shook his head, he was unconvinced. She nodded and turned to address the humans before them.

"The Council has found no evidence of any connection between Saren and the geth. Ambassador, your petition to have him disbarred from the Spectres is denied."

"I'm glad to see justice was served," Saren gloated triumphantly. His hologram faded out.

"This meeting is adjourned," Tevos intoned. Without another glance their way, the three Councilors turned and headed off to an unseen door to the right. Shepard watched them go, feeling more defeated than she had in three years.

It was her worst fear come to light.

Not only did they not believe her about the visions, but they completely dismissed any connection between Saren and the geth. If she was going to stop that crazed turian, she would have to do it alone.


	3. Chapter 3

Slowly the five humans walked out of the Council's chambers and headed down the narrow flight of steps to where Shepard had met up with Anderson only moments ago. As she walked she was began to run scenarios in her mind.

If the Captain could delay the Normandy being sent off to join the fleet for a while, they'd have a cutting edge frigate they could use to track Saren down. With its stealth capabilities and Anderson's mind for strategy, they might stand a chance to bring him down on their own.

Doing so, of course, would get them court martialed.

But if they stopped Saren and whatever crazy plan he was hatching, that would be worth it. Wouldn't it?

"It was a mistake bringing you into that hearing, Captain," Udina stated as though it was all Anderson's fault. "You and Saren have too much history. It made the Council question our motives."

Anderson didn't look up to being put down by this angry little man. "I know Saren," he nearly shouted, defensively. "He's working with the geth for one reason: to exterminate the entire human race. Every colony we have is at risk. Every world we control is in danger. Even Earth isn't safe."

Before Udina could speak, Shepard stepped in, "We need to deal with Saren ourselves."

The Ambassador shook his head, looking more defeated than angry. "As a Spectre he's virtually untouchable. We need to find some way to expose him."

"What about Garrus," Kaidan offered. "That C-Sec investigator? We saw him arguing with the executor."

"That's right!" Ash chimed, jumping into the conversation. "He was asking for more time to finish his report. Seems like he was close to finding something on Saren."

Udina brought his hand up to his chin and seemed to be considering the notion. The way he stood and rubbed his bare face made her wonder if he used to have a beard. Knowing that Anderson wouldn't let them act without his consent, she pressed the issued.

"Any idea where we could find him?" She asked.

"I have a contact at C-Sec who can help us track Garrus down," he contemplated slowly. Every second he seemed more and more open to the idea. "His name is Harkin."

Anderson made a noise that was somewhere in between a scoff and a laugh. "Forget it. They suspended Harkin last month. Drinking on the job. I won't waste my time with that loser."

Udina rounded on him. "You won't have to," he quipped matter-of-factly "I don't want the Council using your past history with Saren as an excuse to ignore anything we turn up. Shepard will handle this."

"You can't just cut Captain Anderson out of this investigation!" She shouted, outraged for her mentor and friend.

"The Ambassador's right," he admitted sounding almost sad. "I need to step aside."

She wanted to argue with him, tell him that she needed him to help head this thing. She was a solider, a good one, and a biotic, something she was even better at. But she was not in any way a detective. How was she supposed to track down this turian and help him hunt for clues about Saren on her own?

She needed him.

As she looked up and met his eye, ready to argue with him, she stopped.

The look in his face quelled any fire she felt about the issue.

He was a man lost in his own memories.

Dark memories by the look of it.

"I need to take care of some business," Udina said finally. "Captain, meet me in my office later." Without a nod or goodbye to the three marines before him, the Ambassador turned and left.

"Harkin's probably getting drunk at Chora's Den," Anderson explained, still partially lost in his own thoughts. "It's a dingy little club in the lower section of the wards."

"I thought you said he was a drunken loser." She stated.

He sighed, "Couldn't hurt to go talk to him. Just be careful. I wouldn't call him reliable."

She wanted to ask him what he was thinking about, see if maybe she could help somehow. He looked up at her and his big brown eyes seemed so far away. After another seconds hesitation she nodded to Ash and Kaidan.

"I should go," she told the Captain.

"Good luck, Shepard," he said, forcing a smile. "I'll be in the ambassador's office if you need anything else." He put a hand on her shoulder and then slowly headed down the stairs they had entered from.

" _This_ ," Ash said pointedly, "is why I hate politicians."

"I hate to agree with you Chief," Kaidan sighed, "but that was a disaster. I can't believe the Council just shut us down like that."

"What did you expect from a bunch of aliens?" She demanded. "They're all just looking out for themselves. "

"Not here, Ash," Shepard said, noticing a few too many eyes on them. "We should get going. See if we can find this Harkin guy and get some answers."

"Sorry, Commander," Ash apologized, suddenly very formal. "Lead the way."

Shepard started down the next set of steps and was turning to go around the left side of the large garden area when Ash spoke up again.

"That guys' up to something," she stated quietly.

"What guy?" Kaidan asked.

"The one over by the Keeper," she nodded her head to their right.

Crouched down next to one of the bug like sentinels of the Citadel, was a salarian. He was most definitely up to something. Changing course she doubled back and stepped up behind the salarian.

"What?" He asked alarmed. He stood up and took two very measured steps away from the Keeper. "Oh. No. I wasn't . . . Never mind. Um, yes. Is there something you want?" He asked as he stumbled over his words.

"Why are you so interested in the Keepers?" Shepard asked. She knew very little about the things. Except that they reminded her of bugs and that didn't exactly endear them to her. She assumed people living on the Citadel knew all about them.

"Keepers?" He asked in mock surprise. "I've got no interest in the kee . . ."

"Don't get coy," Ash cut in. "I know what I saw."

"I uh . . . I'm not sure I should be talking to you about this," he stammered. He was an odd looking salarian. Not that she had many examples to compare him with. But his eyes were purple and his skin was blood red. If she squinted her eyes, he looked like a giant, talking, blood clot.

"Just tell me what you're doing," she assured him in a calm voice. "I'm not here to get you into trouble."

"Alright," he sighed, visibly relaxing. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you. My name is Chorban and I'm using a small scanner to gather readings on the keepers. So far I've had mixed results. I find it difficult to get near the creatures."

"Why were you being so secretive about it though?" The Commander asked, confused.

He shifted back and forth, scanning the area around them, ensuring no one was listening. "Well, technically we're not supposed to disturb the Keepers. I don't really thing my scanning disturbs them, but the authorities might disagree. I'd like to do it more openly, but it's not really worth getting arrested over."

"I can help you out," she offered, finding her own curiosity sparked. "I'm not really worried about the authorities."

He looked at her doubtfully. "I don't even know who you are," he stated.

"I'm Commander Shepard, with the alliance military."

"Commander _Jennifer_ Shepard," Ash added.

She turned and glared daggers at the chief.

"Hmm," he mumbled considering. "Well I suppose I could use the help. You'll need this." He handed her a small device that easily fit in the palm of her hand. "It's a small scanning device I developed. Activate it each time you see a keeper. All collected data with automatically upload to my database. I'll even send a few credits your way for each unique scan."

"How do I activate it?" She asked. Kaidan leaned over her shoulder and looked down at the odd device. She noticed, again, how tall the LT was. At least a full head taller than her.

"Is that a button," he asked, pointing to a small depression on the top.

"Precisely," Chorban consented. "Point the scanner at any Keeper you pass and press the button at the top. If it pings you've scanned a keeper that hasn't been entered into the database."

"And if it's already in the database?" Ash asked.

"Then the scanner's button will flash red," he explained.

"Sounds simple enough," Shepard commented. "If that's all I should go."

"Yes," he agreed. "I have much work myself. So long and good luck with the scanning." He nodded to the three and headed off toward a hallway branching off from the main floor.

"Should we test it out?" Ash asked, nodding toward the Keeper closest to them.

"Might as well," she agreed. Holding up the scanner she pointed it at the Keeper. She pressed the button and waited. After a seconds hesitation the button turned green and made a high pitched pinging noise.

"That was easy," Kaidan commented.

"Let's hope everything else today is as simple," she commented, tucking the scanner in one of the pouches on her belt. "Let's get moving."

"Right behind you," Ash said.

Together the three set out again. Down through the rest of the beautiful room and finally back to the elevator. They stepped in and she brought up the menu. There were a lot of floors in this tower. Most of them were business or embassies. It looked like each councilor had their own floor. She could see the garage they had parked in, one floor below, and the then the presidium all the way at the bottom.

"Are you guys okay with walking?" She asked. "I don't' think it's far to the wards and it would give us a chance to see more of the station."

"I'm down for that," Kaidan agreed readily.

"Yeah that could be exciting, I guess," Ash added.

Ignoring her tone, the commander pushed the button for the bottom floor and watched as the large glass door slid closed before them. She stepped back and waited.

Slowly the lift began to lower them toward the ground.

"It's contagious," she muttered, putting her head in her hands.

"What's contagious?" Ash asked alarmed.

"Slow elevators," Kaidan whispered with a laugh.

"I don't get it," she said as the two started to giggle.

"Everywhere I go lately," Shepard explained, "I encounter slow elevators. I mean really slow."

"Like on the Normandy." She stated, catching on.

"Exactly," Kaidan nodded.

"I wonder why that is?" She pondered out loud.

"Maybe nobody else in the galaxy has places to be," Shepard offered.

"At least not in a timely manner," Kaidan added.

She sighed as she checked the display. "We've gone down three floors. That's it."

"Maybe we should have brought snacks," Ash sighed, leaning against the wall.

"Commander," Kaidan started. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," she replied, leaning against the wall near Ash.

"If the council won't come around about Saren and the Geth, what do you think our next move will be?"

She ran a hand through the stray hairs framing her face. "That's hard to say," she answered honestly. "It depends on the Captain and the Ambassador. It's their call where we go and when."

"But if it was up to you?" Ash pressed.

"Then we'd chase that turian to the end of the galaxy."

When the elevator finally reached the bottom the three all but ran out the glass door laughing. They stopped when they got a look around themselves. The lake was very close now, just dozen or so yards away. Several fountains dotted the inside of the lake as far in each direction as they could see. The sidewalk, if you could call it that, wrapped around a corner to their right.

Around that corner in the lake just beyond, stood a statue of mass relay. It looked to scale from what she could tell. It was huge by her standards, but not anywhere close to its actual size.

"Ya know most art, I don't get," Ash commented as they stared. "But that statue, I like."

Shepard laughed. "Good to know. Now which way do you think it is to the wards?"

Kaidan pulled up his omnitool and punched a few things into the interface. A second later it pinged and then hers pinged too. She pulled it up to find a map of the presidium, including a small red star next to the words "you are here."

"Thanks," she smiled at him.

He nodded and returned the smile.

With a destination the three set off through the crowded walkways of the Citadel. Every so often they would catch the end of a conversation between to aliens. Some of what they were talking about made sense to her, some of it was over her head.

Eventually they came to a large set of stairs leading down. A sign on the wall read "Wards Access".

"This is us," Shepard announced. She glanced around and pulled the small scanner from her pouch. She discreetly pointed it at the Keeper near the top of the stairs and smiled when the light flashed green. Tucking it back away, they started down the stairs.

Around the corner they found an elevator.

Hoping this one would be better than the last two she'd had to ride, they filed in and Kaidan hit the button. The door hissed closed and it began to descend at an angle.

"Oh, god," she muttered. "It's an epidemic!" The others laughed as they once again waited for a slow elevator to take them down.

At least the trip here was short. The elevator opened up to reveal a long hallway with several rooms shooting off to the left and right.

Shepard started moving, enjoying the sights here as well. It wasn't beautiful scenery, but it was a completely different society than she was used to. Other than that fiasco with the council, she was enjoying her time on the Citadel.

At the end of the hall they found another elevator stating that this one would take them to the Wards.

She sighed, defeated, and pushed the button to call it up.

"Do you think they have enough elevators around here?" Ash asked.

"Apparently not," Shepard muttered.

A few moments later they were being let out into another long hallway. There was a door at the end and one about halfway down on the right. Checking her map she headed toward the exit on the right. The door opened up to reveal a hallway washed in red light. There were a few sets of stairs and another Keeper.

Not enjoying the feel of this particular hallway, she started forward none the less. After stopping briefly to scan the Keeper, they headed up one set of stairs only to find that at the top there was another door and then a set of stairs leading down.

"Pointless much?" Ash asked.

"I think this is the place we're looking for," Kaidan said as he tool pinged a few times. There was a taxi stand next to the door, but no car to be seen. Shepard tapped the screen. It lit up orange and declared that they were, in fact, at Chora's Den.

"Oh good," she stated. "A gentleman's club. What are the odds it means the same thing here as it does on earth?"

"Probably too high to say," Ash said sounding as displeased as Shepard.

"This could be fun," Kaidan offered with a laugh. "Just kidding!" He added quickly when both women rounded on him.

"Let's get this over with," Shepard muttered.

As soon as they stepped through the entry way she could tell something was off. She un-holstered her pistol and switched the safety off.

The walkway went around in a square, leaving the middle open to view the cars rushing past below. On the far left wall there was neon sign of an asari next to the words "Chora's Den". To the right there was only more empty space and cars.

"That's her," she heard someone call on the other side of the walk way.

She dove for cover as automatic weapons opened fire on them.

Ash and Kaidan were next her before she could blink.

"What the hell kind of place is this?" Kaidan demanded as he moved to return fire.

"I count two hostiles," Ash called over the noise.

"Take 'em down," Shepard shouted as she popped out of cover. She spotted one hostile, a turian male, coming around the corner fast. She threw a warp field at him and he went down. She could hear Ash and Kaidan engage the other as she moved to finish him off.

Just before she could fire her pistol, the turian jumped to his feet and rolled away from her. He fired off one shot before she put him down.

In her rush she hadn't put her barrier up.

The bullet hit her suits shields and bounced off.

Bounced, painfully, off.

"Ugh!" She grunted as she felt the impact. She doubled over for a moment.

"Commander!" Kaidan shouted rushing over.

"I'm okay!" She assured them as she straightened up.

"Those were Saren's men," he confirmed as he looked at the dead turian on the floor.

"How can you tell?" She asked, pleased her breathing wasn't as painful now.

"The other one was trying to call him after you took this one down," Ash explained.

"Were you able to trace the call?" She asked suddenly hopeful.

Ash shook her head. "He never got a chance to actually make the call. He just told his tool to place the call right before I took him down."

"Damn," she muttered. "What do we do about them?"

"I'm already got a call into C-Sec," Kaidan assured her. "We'll need to file a report later, but they're on their way to take care of this."

"Let's keep moving then," she decided, stepping over the puddle of blue blood that was seeping out of the bullet hole in the turians head.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Kaidan pressed.

"I'm fine Lieutenant," she stated, her voice taking a formal edge.

He stepped back and let her go, looking not the least bit stung by her tone.

Ignoring the look on his face she kept walking.

As they got closer to the door a heavy baseline could be felt pulsing from within the club. The closer they got the louder the music became. By the time they reached the door it was already too loud for her.

The door slid open and they all stopped.

It was _exactly_ like a gentleman's club on Earth.

"Millions of LY from Earth and we walk into a club filled with half naked women shaking their ass on stage," Ash shouted over the music. "I don't know if I should cry or be impressed."

"I'm not sure either of those is the best option," Shepard shouted, scanning the crowd for a man in C-Sec clothing.

"What about you Lt?" Ash asked. "You're kind of place?"

Kaidan shook his head. "Too many lights, too much noise."

"Agreed," Shepard sighed. She caught sight of a man around the bar who she thought might be Harkin.

"You don't do the club scene, Commander?" Ash asked as they started walking.

"I grew up in the slums of Chicago," she explained. "Constant noise and too many people all the time. I like the quiet."

As they came around the bar a set of Krogan arguing blocked their path.

"Back off Wrex," the krogan who was clearly a bouncer shouted. "Fist told us to take you down if you showed up."

The other krogan, Wrex, just laughed at the threat. "What are you waiting for?" He demanded. "I'm standing right here." When the other krogan looked around unsure, he added, "This is Fist's only chance. If he's smart, he'll take it."

"He's not coming out, Wrex. End of story."

Wrex laughed again. "This story is just beginning." He turned and walked away from the bouncer, and almost directly into Shepard.

He was dressed all in red. Even his doubled head plate was red in a pattern that reminded her of fire. His eyes were red, like the rest of him and he bore three long scratches on his face starting on his plate and trailing all the way down his neck.

He was very intimidating.

Not that she let him know that.

"Out of my way humans," he said as he pushed past them. "I have no quarrel with you."

"What was that all about?" Kaidan asked as they watched him leave.

"Who knows?" Ash asked, sounding put off by the appearance of the krogan. "Let's just try not to get caught in the middle."

She didn't say out loud, but Shepard thought the odds of them not getting sucked into the middle were stacked pretty high against them. She always gets dragged in the middle of things that had nothing to do with her. The fact that she was often sticking her nose in the middle was neither here nor there.

Shaking such thoughts away, she turned her attention back to the man she thought might be Harkin. As she got close he looked up and saw her.

Saw isn't exactly what he did, more like his eyes raked in every inch of her body in a way that made her want to bioticly throw him against a wall.

"Hey there sweetheart," he slurred, clearly drunk. "You looking for some fun? Cause I gotta say that soldier getup looks real good on that bod of yours. Why don't you sit your sweet little ass down beside old Harkin? Have a drink and we'll see where this goes."

Kaidan was stepping up before she could reach out to stop him. Thankfully Ash grabbed him by the arm and restrained him before he could do anything . . . drastic.

"Yeah . . ." Shepard started, not sure if she should tell him to piss off or be kind in the hopes he would tell her what she needed to know. "Maybe later."

"Suit yourself princess," he muttered, taking another drink. "You know if more marines looked like you, I might've joined the alliance instead of C-Sec."

"Harkin right?" She asked, hoping to get on with this and get out of here. "I was told you could help me find someone. A turian C-sec officer name Garrus."

"Garrus? Ha!" He laughed. "You must be one of Captain Anderson's crew. Poor bastard's still trying to bring Saren down, eh?

"I know where Garrus is. But you gotta tell me something first. Did the captain let you in on his big secret?"

"I just need to know where Garrus is," she told him, not interested in hearing the supposed secrets of drunk man.

"But it's all related. Don't you see?" He leaned forward wobbling even though he was seated. He was clearly well past drunk and working hard on plastered. "The captain used to be a Spectre. Didn't know that did you? It was all very hush-hush. The first human ever given that honor. And then he blew it. Screwed up the mission so bad they kicked him out. Of course, he blames Saren. Says the turian set him up."

Shepard hesitated.

Anderson hated Saren that much was true. The anger he had displayed during the meeting with the Council had been so far beyond anything she'd ever seen from him. If Saren had done something to compromise Anderson's ability to do his job, or cost him something like being the first human Spectre . . .

She shook her head.

"Just tell me where Garrus went," she demanded, done with this drunken fool.

Harkin shook his head. He could tell he wasn't going to get the reaction out of her he wanted. "Garrus was sniffing around Dr. Michel's office. She runs the med clinic on the other side of the wards. Last I heard, he was going back there."

"Thank you," she said begrudgingly. "I should go."

"Yeah whatever," he muttered, taking another deep drink of his red liquor. "Get outta here and let me drink in peace."

Shepard headed straight out of the bar, not wanting to have to spend another minute in that damned place. Ash and Kaidan followed without a word. Once they were outside and the door slid closed she stopped.

"Why didn't Captain Anderson tell us he used to be a Spectre?" Ash asked confused.

Shepard looked to Kaidan. It was a look that carried both concern and understanding. They had both known the Captain a while now. Both respected the man.

"Maybe it's not true," Kaidan offered after a while. "Harkin's an ass. I bet he's just messing with our heads."

"You're probably right," Ash agreed, not sounding at all convinced. "Still, I'd like to hear what the captain has to say about all this."

"Wouldn't we all," Shepard whispered. "Let's get going."

"Where?" Kaidan asked.

"To talk to the Captain."

Ten minutes and another taxi ride later, the three marines were once again outside the door to the human embassy.

The doors slid open with a hiss that was becoming familiar. Captain Anderson was standing on the balcony looking down at the presidium below. He must not have heard the door because he started slightly when she reached out and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Oh," he started. "Yes, commander? Is there something you need?"

She hesitated for a moment. Taking a deep breath she asked, "You and Saren have a history. What happened?"

Now he sighed and turned away from the balcony. He walked over to the desk in the middle of the room and stopped. Running a hand through his short hair he turned back to her.

"About 20 years ago I was part of a mission in the Skyllian Verge," Anderson started to explain. "I was working with Saren to find and remove a known terrorist threat. Saren eliminated his target. But a lot of people died along the way. Innocent people. And the official records just covered it all up. But I saw how he operates. No conscience. No hesitation. He'd kill a thousand innocent civilians to end a war without a second thought."

Shepard listened quietly as Anderson spoke, taking in all he said. He hadn't mentioned anything about the Spectres. Maybe there was nothing there to mention? Or maybe he was still holding something back? It was hard to know what the right answer was. There were too many unknowns.

She looked up at the man who had saved her from the streets. The man who had given her a second chance when she was nothing more than a dirty orphan on the streets of Chicago. If she only knew one thing here, it was that she trusted him, implicitly.

"Killing innocents doesn't end wars," she said finally. "It causes them."

"I know how the world works Commander," he assured her. "Sometimes you're forced to make unpleasant decisions. But only if there's no other way. Saren doesn't even look for another option. He's twisted, broken. He likes the violence, the killing. And he knows how to cover his tracks."

Anderson was clearly upset. It was obvious that she wouldn't get any more information from him right now. With a nod she said, "I should go."

"I'll be here if you need anything," he told her. He voice was strained and he was clearly glad to be done talking.

She turned and met Kaidan's eye.

He could tell there was more that wasn't being said also. Still, he stepped aside and let her pass, following her out into the hall. Once the door was closed he walked around and blocked her path.

She stopped, not wanting to bounce off him again, and folded her arms across her chest. "What?"

"He's not telling us everything."

"Is there a question in there lieutenant?" She asked impatiently.

"You know the Captain, probably better than most of us. Do you think what Harkin said is true? Was the Captain a Spectre?"

"I don't know," she sighed, throwing her arms up as she stepped past him. She started down the stairs, but had only gone a few feet before he caught up to her.

"Do you think he'd keep something like that a secret?" He asked, not letting up.

She stopped and rounded on him. "Look, Kaidan," she started. "I don't know Anderson as well as you're implying. But I do know that if they asked me to be a Spectre and I screwed it up bad enough to them to fire me; I'd probably be pretty tight lipped about it too."

He stepped back, in line with Ash, and raised his hands. "I'm sorry Shepard. I just don't like being kept in the dark."

"None of us do," she sighed, feeling bad for snapping at him.

They stared at each other, neither sure what to say, both confused by their feelings of hurt. Things seemed to be getting complicated.

"Well we should probably go find Garrus," Ash offered, trying to cut the awkward silence.

"Right," Shepard said, truing away. "Let's head down and speak with this Doctor Michel."

Anderson watched the Commander leave. He'd been shorter with her than he had intended. It was just so damn hard to deal with everything Saren had cost him. Not just with the Spectres, but with Sanders. Because of him things between them had never been the same. He had wanted to keep that secret buried for the rest of his life if he could manage it.

But he should have known bringing Shepard aboard, while she was being considered for the Spectre's, would open that old wound.

With a sigh he walked back out to the balcony and watched the water flow slowly by in a never ending circle.

Shepard, Kaidan, and Ash headed up the long set of steps that lead from the lower markets up to where they hoped the med clinic was. There had been a few silent elevator rides from there to here and she was really starting to feel the stress now.

As they approached the top she could see a man, maybe in his late thirties with bright blonde hair staring at her. She met his eyes once and then looked away. When she got to the top she tried to move past him, but he called out to her.

"Is that . . . wow! It really is you!" He exclaimed as she cleared the last step. "Hey you're Commander Shepard right? Hero of Eden Prime! It's an honor to meet you."

She stopped and smiled at him, glad to be remember from something other than the blitz. Not that Eden Prime was much better.

"The pleasure's all mine," she said awkwardly as she shook his extended hand. It was only after this that she realized he hadn't actually told her his name.

"My name is Conrad," he gushed in an excited rush. "Conrad Verner. They say you killed more than a hundred geth on Eden Prime!"

"I spent most of my time trying to stay alive and help the colonists," she told him honestly.

"Hey I know you're probably busy," he continued, as though he hadn't heard her at all. "But do you have time for a quick autograph?"

She glanced back to Kaidan and Ash. They both shrugged.

Not sure what else to do, she signed the paper he had extended and said, "Anything for a fan. Here." She handed it back to him, still a little unsure of his exuberance.

He looked at her like she had just handed him a billion credits. His eyes lit up and for a moment she thought he might actually cry.

"Thanks!" He exclaimed. "I really appreciate it. My wife is going to be so impressed! I'll let you get back to work, but next time you're on Earth, I'd love to buy you a drink! Thanks again!" He held the paper to his chest and walked off toward the taxi service at the other end of the market.

"What was that?" Ash demanded as soon as he was out of earshot. "Soldiers have fans?"

Shepard sighed. "This," she said gesturing toward Conrad, "Is actually pretty normal for me. Although to be fair it hasn't happened in a while."

"You have dedicated fans?" Kaidan asked with a chuckle.

"After the blitz I did," she admitted.

"Oh," Kaidan whispered. He didn't know why the Commander disliked talking about the blitz so much. If it had been him who'd saved all those lives he would enjoy talking about how he'd beaten the odds and saved an entire colony.

Still, he knew she didn't like talking about it, so he changed the subject. "Look at that view," he said gesturing to their left. The market floor eventually ended near small half wall that appeared to overlook the entire ward.

The three walked over and leaned against the small wall; Shepard at the right, Ash in the middle, and Kaidan at the end. For a moment they silently took in the size and scale of the Citadel.

"Big place," Kaidan commented.

"That your professional opinion, sir?" Ash asked.

"This isn't a station," Shepard commented, agreeing with Kaidan. "It's a city."

"There must be millions here," he went on. "It can't be possible to track everyone coming and going."

"This makes jump-zero look like a porta-john," Ash remarked, not sounding as in awe as the others. "And it's the largest deep space station the Alliance has."

"Jump-zero was big," Kaidan agreed, his voice falling slightly. "But this is a whole 'nother scale. Look at the ward arms. How do they keep all that mass from flying apart?"

"The Council represents more races than I thought," Shepard realized. "No wonder they're careful with newcomers."

"They probably just want to keep everything running," he went on. "It has to be hard keeping all these cultures working together."

"Or maybe they just don't like humans," Ash observed bitterly.

"Why not?" Shepard asked with a laugh. "We've got oceans, beautiful women, this emotion called love. According to the old vids, we have everything they want."

"When you put it that way," Kaidan smiled. "There's no reason they wouldn't like you."

Ash turned and looked him with one eyebrow raised.

"I mean, us," he added in a rush. "Humans. Ma'am." He looked away and scratched his neck awkwardly.

"You don't take much shore leave, do you, LT?" Ash asked with a laugh.

"All right, laugh it up, Chief. I appreciate the thought, Kaidan, but we're on duty here."

"Uh," he stammered for a moment. "Aye, aye, ma'am."

"I'll walk drag, ma'am," Ash laughed as they turned to leave.

"Come on," she sighed, "the clinic's that way."

At last they came to the door marked "Clinic."

Shepard punched the panel next to the door and waited.

After a seconds hesitation the door separated and the two halves slid away.

Inside she could see Garrus, crouched down and moving toward cover. The room itself was divided in two by a large cement barrier. The side closest to the door was filled with chairs and small tables, clearly a waiting room.

There was a woman with short red hair on the other side. A man had a hold of her, clearly threatening her. There was at least three other men off to the side, maybe more. She couldn't tell from this angle.

"I didn't tell anyone I swear," she pleaded. She had accent that made Shepard think she was French or had grown up in a French colony.

"That was smart doc," the man touching her was saying. "Now if Garrus comes around, you stay smart. Keep your mouth shut or we'll . . ." He looked up and his eyes locked on hers. He pulled his gun and flipped the woman so that her back was against his chest and his gun was to her head.

Shepard, Kaidan, and Ash pulled their guns, ready to negotiate or open fire. Whichever was needed of them first.

"Who are you?" He demanded.

"Let her go!" She shouted.

Before Shepard could open her mouth to try and talk the man down, Garrus rolled out from behind his cover and shot the man in the head. He crumpled to the floor dead. The woman hit the deck, covering her head with her hands.

"Light um up!" Shepard shouted as she moved further in the room.

With four trained guns, two strong biotics, and one turian who knew his way around an omnitool, they dispatched the other men in seconds.

"Perfect timing, Shepard," Garrus howled as he returned his rifle to his back. "Gave me a clear shot at that bastard."

She was furious.

"What were you thinking?" She shouted. "You could have hit the hostage!"

"There wasn't time to think!" He hollered, trying to defend himself. "I just reacted. I didn't mean to . . . Dr. Michel? Are you hurt?"

The doctor stood slowly and turned to face them.

"No," she replied smiling. "I'm okay. Thanks to you. All of you."

Garrus turned back to the Commander, searching her eyes for . . . understanding maybe? Ignoring the turian she returned her attention to the doctor.

"I know those men threatened you," she started. "But if you tell us who they work for, we can protect you."

"They work for Fist," she explained with a nod. "They wanted to shut me up, keep me from telling Garrus about the quarian."

"What quarian?"

"A few days ago, a quarian came by my office. She'd been shot, but she wouldn't tell me who did it. I could tell she was scared, probably on the run. She asked me about the Shadow Broker. She wanted to trade information in exchange for a safe place to hide."

"Then what?" Shepard asked.

"I put her in contact with Fist," she sighed. "He's an agent for the Shadow Broker."

"Not anymore," Garrus cut in. "Now he works for Saren, and the Shadow Broker isn't too happy about it."

Dr. Michel looked floored. "Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker?" She asked, floored. "That's stupid even for him. Saren must have made him quite the offer.

"That quarian must have something Saren wants." Garrus observed. "Something worth crossing the Shadow Broker to get."

"She must have something that proves he's a traitor. Did the quarian mention anything about Saren? Or the geth?" Shepard asked insistently

"She did!" The doctor said. "The information she was going to trade. She said it had something to do with the geth!"

"She must be able to link Saren to the geth. There's no way the council can ignore this!" Garrus shouted, almost gleefully.

Shepard looked around, making sure her team was with her. "Time we paid Fist a visit."

Garrus stepped up to the Commander, less than a foot away in fact.

It was the closest she'd ever been to a turian. Even Nihlus had kept a respectable distance.

"This is your show Shepard," he told her earnestly. "But I want to bring Saren down as much as you do. I'm going with you!"

She heard Ash groan quietly behind her. She really needed to talk to the chief about this issue she seemed to have with aliens. Knowing that she needed the help, and finding something very compelling about Garrus and his story, she extended her hand.

"Welcome aboard, Garrus," she said as he clasped her hand.

"You know," he said, not letting go of her hand. "We aren't the only ones going after Fist. The Shadow Broker hired a krogan bounty hunger named Wrex to take him out." He stepped back, finally releasing her hand.

"Yeah," Ash commented, seeing where this conversation was headed. "We saw him at the bar."

"A krogan might come in handy," she thought as she puzzled over whether it would be worth the trouble.

"Last I heard he was at C-Sec Academy," Garrus offered.

"What's he doing there?" Kaidan asked.

"Fist accused him of making threats," he explained. "We brought Wrex in for a little talk. If you hurry, you can catch him at the academy before he leaves."

"Move out," she ordered, knowing they had to hurry.

Together the four nodded their farewells to the doctor and hurried out the door. Garrus took point, leading them around a glass railing and down the flight of stairs next to it. At the bottom there was a number of sky cars, a keeper, and a human C-Sec officer.

When he officer saw them coming his eyes passed over Garrus and stopped on her.

"Hey I know you. You're Shepard right?" He asked excitedly. "I was on Mindoir during the blitz. Saw you on the vids when you got your medal. You saved the whole colony!"

The group stopped, not sure what to do.

"Looks like you have another fan," Kaidan whispered quietly.

"I'm sorry," they young man apologized. "I've just never met someone like you in person. My name's Lang. Officer Eddie Lang, Citadel Security. It's an honor to meet you, Commander. What are you doing down here in the wards? Anything I can help you with?"

"Not right now," she explained, feeling bad when she saw the look of disappointment on his face. "But if I need any help I'll be back."

"Right," he said feeling slightly better. "You're probably really busy. Well, see you around, Commander." He turned back to the car he was working on.

"Let's go," Garrus urged her.

Again the group set out, through the door to their left and down another oddly long hallway. He tapped the green pad and the door slid open. Revealing another elevator. Hoping this one would be different, the four pilled in and Garrus punched the button for C-Sec.

A catchy tune started to play as the lift set out at a crawl.

"You can't be serious," Shepard muttered.

"What's wrong?" Garrus asked.

"Elevators," Kaidan responded.

"I don't' get it," he replied.

"This place is riddled with slow moving elevators," Shepard explained. "This super advanced, seat of our government, station is plagued by elevators that don't have a speed above crawl."

"Why are your humans always in such a rush?" Garrus asked.

As the elevator pinged that it had reached its destination, the conversation dropped.

Garrus was out first leading them past a salarian officer, who nodded to the turian as he passed. Around a wall and up a small set of steps and they found themselves on the main floor of the C-Sec academy. The wall they had just passed was in fact the elevator that would lead them back to the Normandy.

To their left they could see Wrex arguing with four C-Sec officers.

"Witnesses saw you making threats in Fist's bar," one of the officers told Wrex. He was much shorter than the krogan and was speaking to him in a way that made Shepard wonder if he valued his life. "Stay away from him."

"I don't take orders from you," Wrex argued.

"This is your only warning, Wrex," he all but growled, getting in the krogan's face.

"You should warn Fist," he countered, not backing down. "I will kill him."

The officer looked beyond frustrated. Still, to his credit, he didn't buckle under the krogan's glare. "Do you want me to arrest you?" He demanded.

"I want you to try." A clear challenge.

Wrex glanced over the man's head, an easy task for him, and met her eye. Recognition flashed in his red eyes. Glancing back at the officer he brushed past him, knocking into him with his arm, and walked over to Shepard and her small group.

"Go on. Get out of here," the officer called after him, relived to see the krogan leave.

"Do I know you, human?" He demanded of her.

Knowing that the krogan were a straight forward people, she decided to lay it all out.

"My name is Shepard," she stated. "I'm going after Fist. Thought you might want to come along."

"Ah," he said, thinking. "Shepard? Commander Shepard? I've heard a lot about you." He closed the small distance between them. "We're both warriors, Shepard. Out of respect, I'll give you fair warning. I'm going to kill Fist."

"Fist knows you're coming," Garrus chimed in. "We'll have a better chance if we all work together."

"My people have a saying: Seek the enemy of your enemy, and you will find a friend." Wrex took a step back and extended his hand to her.

"Glad to have you on the team, Wrex," she replied, shaking his hand.

"Let's go. I hate to keep Fist waiting."

"What's the quickest way to Chora's Den from here?" Kaidan asked.

"Taxi," Wrex grunted.

"Don't they only seat four?" Ash asked?

"Humans are squishy," he called over his shoulder as he headed over to the taxi console.

"Should we follow him?" Garrus asked.

"Probably better if we don't lose track of the homicidal krogan on the Citadel," Shepard commented as she started after Wrex.

"Good point, Commander," Kaidan agreed as he followed. Garrus was right behind with Ash taking up the rear, if not somewhat, begrudgingly.

Wrex jumped into the driver's seat and stared at the others impatiently.

"Uh, how is this going to work?" Ash asked, sounding uneasy.

"Garrus take the passenger seat, we'll squish in the back I guess." Shepard sighed as she stepped in, followed by Kaidan and then Ash.

It wasn't the most uncomfortable ride she'd ever been on.

There was a time back in the gangs when she'd had to squish in a taxi no bigger than this with twelve other kids.

 _That_ had been, uncomfortable.

Somehow, and she was sure Ash had a large hand in it, she'd ended up in the middle. All but sitting on Kaidan's lap.

As the car settled outside Chora's Den the dashboard pinged.

"Thank you for using Freedom Taxi Services. A balance of forty credits remains."

"Hey who's payin for this?" Wrex grunted from the front seat.

After a moment of silence Shepard leaned forward, "I guess I am."

The car pinged again.

"A fee of forty credits has been charge to Jennifer Shepard's account."

Ash and Kaidan snickered quietly behind her. Garrus turned and looked her over again. Wrex just laughed.

"You humans have the weirdest names," he chuckled as he hauled himself out of the car.

"Yeah cause Wrex is _so_ normal," she muttered as everyone else made their way slowly out of the car.

Once the five were out of the taxi and moving toward the bar Shepard stopped. Garrus, being the tallest in the group, was at the end and ran right into her, nearly toppling the Commander to the ground.

"Are you alright?" He asked alarmed.

"Something's not right," she stated, not answering.

"What do you mean?" Kaidan asked.

By now the whole group had stopped to see what was going on. Wrex looked most displeased by the delay.

"Listen," she instructed.

"All I hear is music," Ash remarked.

"Exactly. Why can't we hear the people inside?" She turned to Garrus. "Turian's have excellent hearing; what do you hear?"

He was silent for a moment.

"There's people in there," he confirmed. "But I don't think it's their regular patrons."

"Weapon's hot," she commanded as she moved past the others and took the lead. She checked her pistol, making sure it was ready. Then she summoned up a warp field and held it in the palm of her hand, ready.

Wrex was surprised the human could tell something was off. He had been so eager to finish what he'd started he hadn't noticed the unusual quite behind the thumping base of the music. Maybe they weren't all as useless as he thought.

Shepard moved away and for a moment Garrus watched her. Her instincts were sharp. Sharper than his. He'd heard the lack of noise and had passed it off as nothing. Something she couldn't even hear had tipped her off that all was not right.

He'd heard stories about her and the blitz, always assumed they were greatly exaggerated.

Now, though.

Now he wondered if he could join her team permanently. Or at least until Saren was dealt with. She moved with authority and command that he couldn't while he was bogged down in the red tape of C-Sec.

For the first time since he'd started this investigation, he had hope.

Shepard positioned herself to the left of the door with Kaidan and Ash flanking her. Garrus was directly across from her with Wrex standing directly in front of the door. She'd tried to get him to take cover, but the krogan had simply laughed in reply.

Their omnitools had pinged when they were close to the door. More than two dozen enemies, and that was only the ones they could pick up. Wrex seemed to think there would be more in the private rooms Fist kept in the back.

She looked to Garrus and nodded.

He punched the button for the abnormally closed door and Wrex rushed in, completely ignoring the hail of bullets that beat against his barrier. Still he opened fire and within a few seconds he had cleared the area immediately in front of the door.

"Move!" Shepard commanded. The other four moved in and took cover by the door, throwing the warp she'd been holding on to. There was more than they had anticipated. Sensing a hard push on Garrus' side, she rolled to his cover and with a nod they both sprang up and opened fire. With a biotic on each side and Wrex charging everything that moved, the hired guns didn't stand a chance.

With a nod to Garrus, he popped up and gave her cover. She darted out from behind the small half wall by the door and flipped a table a few feet a head of her with a small shockwave. She crouched behind it and then popped out and opened fire.

A few seconds later she felt Garrus at her side. A quick glance behind told her that both Ash and Kaidan had moved up too. A bullet glanced her shoulder pad and knocked her back.

"You ok?" Garrus shouted as she moved back behind the cover.

"Fine," she called. "It caught the barrier."

"Get down!" He called suddenly.

Not questioning him, she ducked down as he lifted his rifle. A shot rang out and a merc, who had taken the shot at her from above the bar, came tumbling to the ground. He nodded to her and she popped back up and opened fire on the mercs again.

A few moments later they had cleared the room.

"Clear," Ash called from behind a table to Shepard's left.

"Clear," Garrus informed the group.

"Whatever," Wrex grunted as he moved to the door at the back of the bar. "Let's get this done."

They moved around the large containers that the thugs had been using for cover and Wrex pushed the button for the door.

As the door separated and disappeared into the floor and ceiling, two men came out from behind more crates, guns drawn. It took her less than a second to ascertain from their clothes and the way they held their guns, these were not mercs.

"Stop right there! Don't come any closer!" The one closest to them shouted. Shepard reached out signaled for the others to lower their weapons. Everyone did as she requested, except for Wrex.

"Warehouse workers," Garrus informed her. "All the real guards must be dead."

"Stay back or we'll shoot," the other worker called, his hands shaking.

"This would be a good time to find somewhere else to work," she informed the men, hoping they would choose to live.

The two men glanced at each other and nodded. "Yeah." The first one agreed, putting his gun away. "Yeah, you're right. That's a good idea."

"I never liked Fist anyway," the other agreed. With guns holstered, they put their hands up and slipped past the odd group. Never before had they even heard of a human, a krogan, and a turian working together, let alone seen it.

"I would've never thought of that," Garrus remarked, watching the men run from the club.

"Would've been easier to kill them," Wrex grunted, sounding displeased.

"Shooting people isn't always the answers," Kaidan commented.

Wrex walked past him, laughing as though he had said something hilarious.

Past a few more crates and a row of lockers there was another door. Wrex hit the button and stepped into a short hallway. All five filled in and waited.

Shepard checked her omnitool.

She could only see one lifeform in the room beyond. But she was certain that there was something more beyond the door. A quick glance around told her everyone was ready. With a nod to Wrex, he punched the button for the door and they all ran in.

"Why do I have to do everything myself?" Shepard heard a man say. She ran past the main opening of the room and ducked behind a half wall for cover. "Time to die, little solider!"

A second later Kaidan was at her side, she could see Ash and Garrus across from them with Wrex barreling down the middle again. A strange electronic clicking made her blood run suddenly cold. She popped up and saw the covers begin to lower over two defensive turrets on either side of the room.

"Wrex!" She shouted.

It was too late.

The turrets zeroed in on him and opened fire. He had just enough time to throw up a barrier before the rained bullets down on him. He fell back and ducked down next to her and Kaidan.

"You alright?" She shouted.

"I will be once he's dead," Wrex grunted. She assumed that meant he was fine.

"Kaidan, can you use your tech to short out that turret?" She asked.

"I can try." He pulled up his omnitool and punched a few things in. After a second they both popped up and while the commander laid down cover fire, he launched an override command at the turret directly across from them.

Sparks began to fly from the gun as it struggled to override the command. Shepard fired off a few shots at it and it exploded.

Garrus, having seen what Kaidan and Shepard were doing, fired off a similar command at the turret across from him. Ash took it down with precision shot to the motherboard.

Wrex started forward again.

Fist popped out from behind his overturned desk to find a very large, angry, krogan bearing down him. One shot to the shoulder took him down and alleviated him of his weapon.

"Wait!" Fist shouted as the rest of the group bore down on him. "Don't kill me! I surrender!"

She pointed her pistol at him, knowing all too well what kind of man he was and that time was against him. She wouldn't shoot him of course, not while he was unarmed, but the gun would help motivate him.

"Where's the quarian?" She demanded.

"She's not here," he cried, shrinking away from the gun. "I don't know where she is! That's the truth!"

"He's lying," Kaidan stated. There were nods and a general murmur of agreement from the group.

"He's no use to you know," Wrex said, "let me kill him."

"You better start explaining before I lose my temper," Shepard said, stepping up closer. "Or before he does," she added with a nod to Wrex.

He chuckled darkly and cocked his shotgun.

"The quarian isn't here," he explained. "She said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself."

"Face to face? Impossible," Wrex stated. "Even I was hired through an agent."

Shepard looked at him and motioned with her gun for him to stand. He did so slowly, keeping his eyes on Wrex and his primed shotgun.

"Nobody meets the Shadow Broker. Ever," he agreed. "Even I don't know his true identity. But she didn't know that. I told her I'd set a meeting up. But when she shows up, it'll be Saren's men waiting for her."

Shepard reached forward suddenly, grabbing the man by the collar of his armor and pulling him close. She pushed the gun up under his chin. "Give me the location. Now."

"Here on the wards," he cried. She released him with shove. "The back ally by the markets. She's supposed to meet them right now. You can make it if you hurry."

She was about to say something else when the sound of a shotgun rang out.

Everybody jumped.

Everybody but Wrex.

He lifted his shotgun, smoke still rising from the end, and reattached it to his back mag.

"What are you doing?!" Garrus demanded.

"The Shadow Broker paid me to kill him," Wrex explained unremorsefully. "I don't leave jobs half done."

"We don't shoot unarmed prisoners!" Shepard shouted at him.

"How many people died because of him?" Wrex asked. "He brought this on himself. Besides, we have more pressing concerns."

"That quarian's dead if we don't go now," Garrus stated, not enjoying having to agree with the krogan.

"Fine," Shepard relented begrudgingly.

"Should we look around?" Ash asked. "See if there's anything here we can use?"

Garrus scanned the room quickly. He walked over and pulled up out the data drives of Fist's computer. "We can take these," he said. "They may have useful information we can use later."

"Then let's take them and go," Shepard ordered.

They turned to leave, knowing that time was against them. Once they were out of the bar the commander would order them to move double time. Before they could even clear the small hallway, every omnitool pinged the locations of another several dozen mercs on the other side of the door.

"How many men does Fist have?" Garrus demanded

"Maybe they would stop fighting if they knew he was dead?" Kaidan asked.

"Not likely," Wrex replied.

"Let's just do this and do it fast," she ordered. "We don't have time."

Ash punched the door and at once they were set upon by a hail of bullets. Shepard used her biotics to create a small barrier between her group and the incoming ammunition.

"Return fire!" She shouted when there was pause in enemy fire.

The four responded at once. Two on each side of the commander unloaded their guns. Every merc within range was down. Dropping the shield they advanced again, spreading out into small groups that worked their way back around each side of the bar.

By the time they'd reached the door on the other side they'd lost more time than she was comfortable with.

"Double time!" She shouted, "Let's move!" Together they took off running.

Down past the overlook where cars rushed past.

Through the door.

Past the rapid transit.

Up the stairs and through the next door.

Across that level; she could hear voices just down the next set of stairs.

They had to hurry.

She could see a turian approach a quarian female. It was impossible to determine anything else about her through her suite.

"Did you bring it?" The turian asked approaching her.

"Where's the Shadow Broker?" She asked, clearly on edge. "Where's Fist?"

"They'll be here," he told her offhandedly. "Where's the evidence?" He reached up and ran a hand down the side of her helmet to the top of her shoulder. Before his hand could go any farther it was slapped away.

"No way," the quarian informed him, sounding disgusted. "The deals off."

He took a step back, looking almost glad.

Shepard saw two salarians in armor appear from behind a crate as she stated down the last set of steps. The quarian took notice of them as well.

Throwing something, she took off toward cover.

A grenade went off, taking one of the salarians down with it.

The turian, and several more salarians then Shepard had originally seen, opened fire on the quarian and the five others they hadn't noticed until then.

With six people working in tandem, Saren's men were easily dispatched.

"Clear," Kaidan called as the turian finally went down.

"Fist set me up!" The quarian shouted turning to face the group that had fought with her.

"Were you hurt in the fight?" Shepard asked, knowing how delicate a quarian's suit and system could be.

"I know how to take care of myself," she assured the Commander. "Not that I don't appreciate the help. Who are you? All of you?" She glanced around and noted how odd this small group was. A turian, a krogan, and three humans coming to the aid of a quarian. It was unheard of.

"My name is Shepard," she explained. "And I'm looking for evidence to prove Saren's a traitor. These are two members of my crew: Ashley Williams and Kaidan Alenko. This is Garrus Vakarian, a C-Sec officer assigned to Saren's case. And Wrex . . ." Shepard wasn't sure what to say about the krogan. All she knew about him was his name and the fact that he was contracted to kill Fist by the Shadow Broker.

She shook her head and said, "Then I have a chance to repay you for saving my life." She looked around again, clearly uncomfortable. "But not here. We need to go somewhere safe."

"The ambassador's office. It's safe there," Kaidan offered. "He'll want to see this anyway."

"If you think it's safe there," the quarian consented.

"Safer than a seedy back ally, that's for sure," Wrex grunted.

"Let's get going then," Shepard said. "We'll walk, if that's ok with everyone." She didn't think she could fit another person in a taxi right then. She certainly didn't want to try.

She started forward and the others fell into step behind her. Through the red hallway and out into the very brightly lit hallway with the elevator at the far end.

"How did you know where I was?" The quarian asked her.

"We paid Fist a visit," she replied grimly.

"I see. I take it he didn't survive this visit?"

"Nope," Wrex responded from the back of the group.

"Good," she replied bitterly. "I hope that bosh'tet got what he deserved."

"Oh he did," Wrex chuckled.

Tali fell back a step. No longer shoulder to shoulder with this Shepard woman. She seemed to be the leader of this strange band of aliens. She was grateful for the help they had provided. She was sure she could have taken all of Saren's men if she'd had to. But one tear to her suit would have been the end of her.

Still she didn't know anything about these people.

Keelah, she was so far in over her head.

How had her Pilgrimage gone so far off the course she had set?

She'd almost been killed twice in the same week.

Now she was relying on three humans, a turian and a krogan for help.

When she finally returned to the flotilla, assuming she lived that long, no one was going to believe the tails of her Pilgrimage.

Shepard closed the distance to the control for the ambassador's door.

She hesitated.

For a moment a feeling of dread circled her heart and she couldn't move.

Something terrible was coming.

Kaidan stopped short, nearly running into the commander.

She had halted just outside the door to Udina's office.

Now she wasn't moving at all.

He stepped up close to her right side.

"Commander?" He asked quietly. "Is everything alright?"

"Fine," she lied brightly. "Let's get this done." She pushed the door open and headed inside.

Shepard walked in to see Udina standing in front of his desk facing the open balcony. Anderson was directly to his right looking at the small strange party that came walking through the door. His eyes got wide as he caught sight of all the non-humans filing though the door.

"You're not making my life easy, Shepard," he started, still facing away from her. "Firefights in the wards? An all-out assault on Chora's Den? Do you know how many . . ." he words trailed away as he turned and took in the sight of the commander and her group.

"Who are all these . . . people? What are you up to Shepard?"

"Making your day Ambassador," she explained motioning for the quarian to step forward. "She has information linking Saren to the geth."

"Really?" He asked disbelievingly. "Maybe you better start at the beginning, Miss . . ?"

It was in this moment that Shepard realized she'd never asked the quarian's name.

"My name is Tali," she explained. "Tali'Zora nar Rayya."

"We don't see many quarians here," Udina stated. "Why did you leave the flotilla?" His tone was polite but Shepard could hear something else just under the surface.

Tali sighed and walked away from the group and toward one of the windows.

"I was on my Pilgrimage, my rite of passage into adulthood."

"I've never heard of this before," Shepard blurted out before she could stop herself. Her curiosity was something she could usually keep in check. But now it seemed to have taken on a life of its own.

Udina shot her a look but Tali didn't see it.

"It's a tradition among my people," she explained. "When we reach maturity, we leave the ships of our parents and our people behind. Alone we search the stars, only returning to the flotilla once we have discovered something of value. In this way, we prove ourselves worthy of adulthood."

"What kinds of things do you look for?" Shepard asked, not caring if Udina was in a hurry.

"It could be resources like food or fuel. Or some type of useful technology. Or even knowledge that will make like easier on the flotilla. Through our pilgrimage, we prove that we will contribute to the community, rather than being a burden on our limited resources." Tali seemed to swell with pride as she explained what was, clearly, a very important custom to her people.

Shepard nodded, pleased to know more about Tali and her people. "Tell us what you found."

"During my travels," she started, "I began hearing reports of geth. Since they drove my people into exile, the geth have never ventured beyond the veil. I was curious.

"I tracked a patrol of geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one to become separated from its unit. Then I disabled it and removed its memory core."

"I though all geth fried their memory cores when they died. Some kind of defense mechanism," Anderson stated.

"How did you manage to preserve a memory core?" Shepard asked.

"My people created the geth," she explained with a mix of pride and guilt. "If you're quick, careful and lucky small caches of data can sometimes be saved. Most of the core was wiped clean. But I salvaged something from its audio banks." She brought her omnitool out and punched a few things into the display.

There was a clicking sound and followed by a faint sound of white noise.

" _Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit_ ," Saren's voice rang through the empty room.

"That's Saren's voice!" Anderson shouted, "This proves he was involved in the attack!"

"He said Eden Prime brought him once step closer to finding the Conduit. Any idea what that means?" Shepard asked.

"The Conduit must have something to do with the beacon. Maybe it's some kind of Prothean technology . . ." Anderson contemplated. "Like a weapon."

The room went silent as everyone there considered what Saren with an advanced weapon might mean.

"Wait . . . there's more," Tali said after a moment. "Saren wasn't working alone." She brought up her omnitool and punched a few more things in.

The recording of Saren started again.

" _Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit_."

" _And one step closer to the return of the reapers,"_ a second, female, voice intoned.

Udina shook his head. "I don't recognize that other voice. The one talking about the Reapers."

"Are they some kind of new alien species?" Shepard asked.

"I've never heard of anything like that," Garrus commented.

"Me either," Ash agreed.

"According to the memory core," Tali cut in, "the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago. The Reapers hunted the Protheans to total extinction, and then they vanished. At least, that's what the geth believe."

I chill shuddered down Shepard's spine.

Something about what Tali was saying made her blood run cold.

Reapers.

That word made the little hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

"Sounds a little far-fetched," Udina's voice sounded from far away as she struggled to place her feeling.

"The vision on Eden Prime," she said at once. "I understand it now. I saw the Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers."

"The geth revere the Reapers as gods," Tali stated. "The pinnacle of non-organic life. And they believe Saren knows how to bring the Reapers back."

"The council is just going to love this," Udina muttered. She could hear the disbelief in his voice. He would try and silence her or down play the threat.

"The Reapers are a threat to every species in Citadel space. We have to tell them," she pressed.

Udina looked ready to argue.

"No matter what they think about the rest of this," Anderson cut in. "Those audio files prove Saren's a traitor."

"The captain's right," Udina agreed. "We need to present this to the Council right away."

"What about her?" Kaidan asked nodding to Tali. "The quarian?"

"My name is Tali," she replied defensively. "You saw me in the ally, Commander. You know what I can do. Let me come with you."

"I thought you were on your Pilgrimage," Sheppard replied. She didn't mind the thought of bringing Tali with her, the girl seemed tough and her knowledge of the geth could be invaluable in their fight with Saran.

"The Pilgrimage proves that we are willing to give of ourselves for the greater good," she explained passionately. "What does it say about me if I turn my back on this? Saren is a danger to the entire galaxy. My Pilgrimage can wait."

She nodded, impressed by her dedication. "I'll take all the help I can get," she told her.

"Thanks," Tali sighed. She walked away from Udina and came to stand at Shepard's right hand side. "You won't regret this." She was smiling, or at least the Commander thought she was smiling. The helmet made it hard to tell.

Udina pulled a face, clearly displeased by Shepard's decision. "Anderson and I will go ahead to get things ready with the Council. Take a few moments to collect yourself, then meet us at the tower. He walked past the Commander and then skirted to the side to avoid running into Wrex.

Anderson walked up and put a hand on her shoulder. He didn't say anything but his eyes conveyed a sense of gratitude he couldn't find the words for. Giving her a slight squeeze, he headed after the ambassador.

They turned to watch the men go. As the door slid closed behind them every eye, Amber, red, brown, blue, and purple (It was hard to see through the helmet) turned to face her.

"Now what do we do?" Tali asked.

"We should head to the Tower and show the Council what you've found," Shepard said as though it should have been obvious.

"All of us?" Ash asked, looking around.

"We all had a part to play in tracking down this information," she explained. "We should all be there to present these finding to the Council."

"And we all want to take Saren down," Garrus added.

"It makes us a team," Kaidan agreed.

"Let's go do this then," Wrex grunted looking displeased.

"Don't like the team?" Garrus laughed, enjoying the look of displeasure on the krogan's face.

"I've been a part of worse," he grumbled. "At least there aren't any asari."

"And on that note let's get going," Shepard stated, starting toward the door.

"You wanna take a cab again?" Wrex joked as she walked past.

"Only if they have a bus."

Tali walked with this strange new group, on the Presidium. A place no quarian had been in over a hundred years. She was in awe at all she saw.

A sky with clouds. A lake with waterfalls splashing water around like it didn't matter if it got wasted or not. Then there was all the green! Live trees and planets everywhere.

Then there was all the space!

She'd never seen so much space on an artificial construct.

Her whole race could live here.

She looked at the Commander, leading them around.

Quarians in general had very little interaction with humans.

Even less with krogan.

This was going to be a very interesting Pilgrimage.

Shepard pushed the green button next to the Tower's elevator and waited as it scanned her. The door parted with a hiss and slid away. Then the six shuffled onto the elevator. Originally there had been so much room in the small glass box.

Now it seemed there wasn't enough space for just Wrex.

They shuffled around for a minute, trying to get everyone situated. Finally Wrex was in the center with Shepard next to Garrus by the control panel, Kaidan was next to Tali directly across from them, and Ash was somewhere Shepard couldn't see.

She opened the menu up and punched the button for the top floor.

Again the elevator crawled forward, seeming to struggle under the combined weight of everyone inside.

"You know this elevator is slow too," Garrus observed quietly next to her.

"It's a pandemic," Shepard agreed with a smile.

"I've lived here for years and never noticed their speed before."

She looked up at him and the little visor that sat over his left eye. "So what you're say," she joked, "Is that if we ever end up in a situation where you perception is all that stand between us and certain doom . . . ?"

"We'd all die," he laughed.

"Good to know." She chuckled.

"So . . ." Tali ventured quietly. "Why is the elevator going so slowly?"

Garrus, Kaidan, Ash, and Shepard laughed as Wrex and Tali glanced around confused.

"You know," Garrus commented as neared the top, "not too many people have free access to the Tower. Even less get to meet the council."

"This is our second time seeing them," Ash informed the group. "Today."

Wrex shook his head and muttered something about humans Shepard couldn't understand. She was going to ask what he meant, but then she realized she probably didn't want to know.

The elevator stopped and the glass doors slid open.

It was still an amazing sight to see.

Shepard wondered if she would ever grow accustomed to seeing it.

Before the small group could even get off the elevator they were attracting attention. The humans and the turian didn't seem to faze anyone, but the krogan and the quarian seemed to be a bit of a problem.

As they started forward security she hadn't seen originally swooped in from all sides.

"I'm sorry but you can't be here," a salarian with faint green skin and dark red eyes told Wrex.

"Yeah? Says who?" He challenged.

"Sir . . ." A turian with dark brown scales and white face paint added.

Shepard stepped up between the security and Wrex. "I'm Commander Shepard with the Systems Alliance Navy, is there a problem here?"

"Ma'am," an asari dressed as a commando said, "We, as a policy, do not allow krogan or quarians into the top of the tower unrestricted, or without a summons."

"The council is expecting us," Shepard informed her before Wrex could say something. "This is my team and I take full responsibility for them while we're here."

A look of unease passed between the three. The salarian moved away from group and spoke quietly into his comm. After a few seconds he returned, looking more than a little displeased.

"Commander Shepard and her team are expected it the council chambers at once," he announced. "We are to let her team pass on the understanding that they are her responsibility."

"I understand," she confirmed with a nod.

"Then you may pass," the salarian sighed, disgruntled.

"Thank you," she moved forward as the security parted. Wrex "accidentally" bumped into the salarian as they passed, grumbling a half-assed apology to him after.

Not wanting to keep the Council waiting, the Commander and her group hurried through the rest of the beautiful tower and up the steps where Captain Anderson was awaiting her again. He chuckled when he saw them and when she was close enough he told her, "Come on. Udina's presenting the quarian's evidence to the Council."

They hurried up the steps and had just entered the Council Chambers when the sound of Saren's voice drifted over.

" _Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit_."

" _And one step closer to the return of the Reapers._ "

"You wanted proof," Udina declared, "There it is."

Sparatus shook his head, clearly ashamed. "This evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes."

"I recognize the other voice," Tevos announced. "The one speaking with Saren. Matriarch Benezia." She looked back to Shepard, shame and grief plain on her face.

"Who's she?" The Commander asked.

"Matriarchs are powerful asari who have entered the final stage of their lives," she explained. "Revered for their wisdom and experience, they serve as guides and mentors to my people. Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic, and she had many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren."

"I'm more interested in the Reapers," Valern observed. "What do you know about them?"

There were certainly more qualified people in the room to answer. People with more experience and rank than she had. Still the salarian councilor, as well Sparatus and Tevos, turned and addressed her directly.

She glanced to Anderson who nodded.

"Only what was extracted from the geth's memory core," he explained. "The Reapers were an ancient race of machines that wiped out the Protheans. Then they vanished."

"The geth believe the Reapers are gods. And Saren is the prophet for their return," Shepard added.

"We think the Conduit is the key to bringing them back. Saren's searching for it. That's why he attacked Eden Prime," Anderson finished.

"Do we even know what this Conduit is?" Valern asked.

"Saren thinks it can bring back the Reapers. That's bad enough," Shepard offered in lieu of the truth. Which was that they had no idea what the Conduit was or where it might be.

"Listen to what you're saying!" Sparatus scoffed. "Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible. It has to be." There was defiance in his voice, but also uncertainty and a hint of fear.

"Where did the Reapers go?" He demanded. "Why did they vanish? How come we've found no trace of their existence? If they were real, we'd have found something!" Shepard wasn't sure if he was trying to convince the other members of the Council or himself.

The Commander was starting to get frustrated. She had given them the evidence they had asked for. "I tried to warn you about Saren, and you refused to face the truth. Don't make the same mistake again."

"This is different," Tevos explained. "You proved Saren betrayed the Council. We all agree he's using the geth to search for the Conduit, but we don't really know why."

"The Reapers are obviously just a myth, Commander," Valern agreed. "A convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend he is using to bend the geth to his will."

They were afraid.

That fear was keeping them from seeing the truth and it was going to get a lot of people killed if she couldn't make them see.

Anger and just a bit of indignation boiled under her surface. "Fifty thousand years ago, the Reapers wiped out all galactic civilization. If Saren finds the Conduit, it will happen again!"

Sparatus looked at her like an adult would look at child telling tall tales. "Saren is a rouge agent on the run for his life," he explained. "He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre. The Council has stripped him of his position."

"That's not good enough!" Udina shouted. "You know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse. Send you fleet in!"

"A fleet cannot track down one man," Valern explained simply.

Udina shook his head, pissed. "A Citadel fleet could secure the region. Keep the geth from attacking anymore of our colonies!"

"Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus systems!" Sparatus shouted, his patience for the humans wearing thin. "We won't be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few dozen human colonies!"

She was angry. Those were human lives that were being lost. How could be so blind to the danger Saren presented? She looked to the council and then back to Udina and Anderson. Everyone was heated and no one would budge from the whole they'd dug themselves into.

They needed an alternate option.

"I can take Saren down."

The room fell silent as everyone considered her words.

"The Commander is right," Tevos conceded. "There is a way to stop Saren that doesn't require fleets or armies."

"No!" Sparatus insisted. "It's too soon. Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres."

"You don't have to send a fleet into the traverse," Shepard told them. "And the Ambassador gets his human Spectre. Everybody's happy."

Tevos and Valern looked to Sparatus. After a second or so of hesitation he nodded. Each councilor reached forward and touched a button on a control panel in front of them. There was a sound of hydraulics and a few seconds later unmanned cameras flew up and encircled the area. Confused the Commander looked around.

"Commander Shepard," Tevos intoned, "step forward."

She looked to Anderson who nodded, beaming with pride. She walked up past him and Udina until she stood at the very edge of the walkway.

People were starting to gather. On sidewalks, balconies and even the steps behind them. A crowd was forming.

"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel," Tevos elaborated.

"Spectres are not trained but chosen," Valern intoned now. "Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file."

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will." Tevos added.

"Spectres bear a great burden," Sparatus proclaimed. "They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

"You are the first human Spectre, Commander," Tevos acknowledged. "This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species."

A small camera drone flew before her as she bowed. "I'm honored, Councilor."

"We're sending you into the Travers after Saren," Valern informed her. "He's a fugitive from justice, so you are authorized to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him."

"Any idea where to find him?" Shepard asked.

"We will forward any relevant files to Ambassador Udina," Sparatus replied.

"This meeting of the Council is adjourned," Tevos intoned as the camera drones flew back to wherever they had come from. Shepard bowed slightly to the Councilors as they walked away and back to their private chambers. Once they had gone, everyone who had come to witness Shepard's inauguration began to disperse.


	4. Chapter 4

"Congratulations, Commander," Anderson offered, shaking her hand. He smiled at her with the pride plain on his face.

"We've got a lot of work to do Shepard," Udina cut in, his calculating mind setting to work already. "You're going to need a ship, a crew, supplies . . ."

"You'll get access to special equipment and training now," Anderson jumped back in. "You should go down to C-Sec Academy and speak to the Spectre requisitions officer."

"Anderson!" Udina snapped suddenly. "Come with me. I'll need your help to set all this up."

The Captain scowled slightly at the Ambassador. He smiled at Shepard and placed a hand on her shoulder. Then he turned and let Udina lead him away again. The Commanders small company parted as the men went past, watching them.

"I thought the ambassador would be a little more grateful," Tali said.

"Hm," Wrex grunted, "The bastard didn't even thank you."

"Until I find Saren, I haven't done anything," she explained. "Come on." She stared forward.

"Where are we going?" Kaidan asked. "Are we going to be able to come with you?"

"You want to leave the Normandy?" Ash asked as they started walking back toward the elevator.

"I don't want to leave," Kaidan struggled as he tried to explain. "But I want to help the Commander see this mission through."

They stepped into the elevator again and the door slid closed.

"Actually Kaidan brings up a good point," Shepard observed. "You all helped me prove to the council what Saren really was. But from here I can't guarantee what happens or where we'll end up."

"Commander," Garrus started. He was directly to her right and closer to her than even Kaidan. All three were squished into one corner of the elevator. "If it's all the same to you, I'd like to tag along with you, wherever you go. I want to see this mission through to the end."

"What about C-Sec?" She asked.

He shook his head. "I've been thinking about that," he explained. "I think it would be good for me to see how things done outside of C-Sec."

"If you're sure," she consented, "I'd be happy to have you with me."

"Look I started this thing," Wrex interrupted. "And I'll be damned if I'm not gonna finish it."

"I'll take it that means you'll come along," Shepard said with a smile.

"And me too," Tali added. "Until the end of this."

"And me," Kaidan told her. He reached out to touch her arm and stopped. Looking around awkwardly he added, "If the Captain will give me the leave to go."

"Don't count me out either," Ash called from across the elevator. "I have a personal debt to collect for the 212 and everyone else on Eden Prime."

"I'm glad to have you, all of you," Shepard told them earnestly.

"Yeah, yeah. Cut the mushy crap," Wrex grunted as the elevator slowed to a stop. "Where the hell are we going?"

"Back to the embassy?" Ash asked as they shuffled off.

"Best bet," Shepard agreed.

"We should stop by C-Sec Academy too," Garrus reminded her.

"Right, so embassy first and then C-Sec and then we'll head up to the Normandy and see about getting you two reassigned," Shepard decided, nodding to Kaidan and Ash.

Anderson stood and looked out over the ship, his ship. He had hoped to spend the rest of his career on the Normandy. If only he'd known how right he was, or short that his stint there would be. For a moment he let himself feel the disappointment that came with knowing his military career was over. He allowed it to wash over him and consume him for a few seconds.

Then he pushed those feelings aside and locked them away.

This wasn't about him.

It was about Shepard.

She would do wonders in her career. Hell she already had. She needed this ship, needed the power and stealth it could provide. If Saren was to be stopped, and for the sake of all mankind he had to be, then Shepard was the one who could do it.

"Are you ready, Captain?" Udina asked.

"I am," he agreed with a sigh. "Show me where I have to sign."

Udina produced a small data pad. The top of the current page read:

SR1: SSV Normandy Transfer Orders

By the time Commander Shepard and her group had made it to the embassy, they'd been stopped no more than a dozen times by people, of all species, wanting to congratulate Shepard on her new role as a Spectre. Apparently the vid of her inauguration had already been edited and was circulating on every major screen and news station the galaxy over.

"Gonna have to get used to having fans, Shepard," Garrus joked as the rounded the corner toward the embassy.

"Not really," Ash remarked quietly.

"She's already got quite a few of them," Kaidan reminded him.

"Excuse me, Commander Shepard?" A man near the embassy called. "Could you spare a moment of you time?" He was a tall Indian looking man who spoke with an accent.

"Do we really have time for another fan?" Wrex asked.

"I don't think he's a fan," she said quietly as she walked over to him.

"Commander Shepard?" He asked again. "My name is Samesh Bhatia. Forgive the intrusion, but I have nowhere else to turn."

"It's no trouble," she assured him. "What can I do for you?"

"My wife was a marine," he explained, wringing his hands. "She was with the 212 on Eden Prime."

"Wait," Ash called stepping forward. "The 212? Your wife was Serviceman Nirali Bhatia? I'm Gunnery Chief Ashely Williams. I served in her unit."

"Chief Williams," he sighed sadly. "It is a pleasure. Nirali spoke of you with great respect."

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Mr. Bhatia. Nirali was a good woman. What can we do for you?" Ash asked.

"I've requested that my wife's body be returned to me for cremation, but the military has refused my request."

"Why did they refuse your request?" Shepard asked. "There's got to be some reason."

"I don't know," he replied, hanging his head in grief. "All I know is that they have declared it impossible for my wife to be returned to me."

"There's no reason for your wife's body to be held like this," she told him. "Just wait here."

"The man in charge of my case is Mr. Bosker," Samesh explained. "When I last saw him he was in that expensive bar over there." He pointed to the staircase on the left, opposite of Udina's office. "Thank you for your time. I just want to give my wife a proper funeral and the respect she deserves."

"Just wait here," Shepard told him again. "I'll go have a chat with Mr. Bosker." She turned and headed for the stairs, taking them quickly. That poor man had suffered so much already. The least she could do was be quick about things.

"Hey Shepard," Wrex called from behind her.

"What is it Wrex?"

"Do you want me to "talk" to this guy?"

She laughed. "No, I'm sure he'll listen to reason." She hoped.

"And if he won't?" Ash asked, sounding heated.

"If he won't listen to reason, then maybe he'll listen to Wrex," she sighed as they reached the door.

She heard a strange rumbling from behind and turned. Wrex had huge smile on and he was . . . well . . . laughing I guess was the best word for it. Or maybe that was a low chuckle? It was hard to tell.

Turing her attention back to the bar she walked in. Ash and Wrex were hot on her heels.

She glanced around.

There was a lot of civilians in here. It was impossible to know who was who.

"Bosker!" Ash shouted, figuring why the commander stopped.

A young man near the back of the bar looked up. He couldn't have been older than twenty-five with reddish blond hair and blue eyes. He locked onto her and blushed.

"Oh my goodness, you're Commander Shepard!" He gushed as she walked over. "Your activities made for quite the debriefing in the Diplomatic Corps! Is there something I can do to assist you?"

"Yes," she started. "A man named Samesh Bhatia is having trouble claiming his wife's body."

He looked away guiltily. "Ah, Mr. Bhatia. A good man in an understandably frustrating position. I wish I could help him. Serviceman Nirali Bhatia died on Eden Prime, as Mr. Bhatia no doubt told you. Her wounds are inconsistent with any type of weapon damage we've seen before. That is why her body's being held."

Shepard sighed. She understood now.

"You're studying her injuries to learn more about geth weaponry," she stated.

He nodded. "The tests we are conducting may lead to better defenses against geth attacks." Ash took a step forward, glaring at the clerk. "Respectfully," he added quickly. "Serviceman Bhatia may save more lives in death than she did in life."

"I understand what you're trying to do," Shepard agreed. "But holding the body is wrong."

"Commander," he started shocked. "You of all people should understand how far we must go to protect humanity!"

Her of all people.

 _Her_.

Somehow without him having to say it, she knew it came back to the blitz.

It always came back to that damn battle.

"Not if we lose our humanity in the process!" She shouted, suddenly angry. "I'm out here fighting to stop crap like this!"

He sighed, defeated.

"All right, Commander. You win." He looked back up at her, his face resigned. "It was hard enough to refuse Mr. Bhatia. I'm not going to risk an incident by refusing you. Tell Samesh that the body is being shipped back to Earth. I'll go now and see to it myself." He nodded to her and walked started to walk away.

Shepard reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you," she told him earnestly.

"Of course, Commander." He forced a smile and headed out.

"That was no fun at all," Wrex grumbled as Shepard turned away.

"Let's go tell Samesh," Ash said, sounding hopeful.

Together the odd band headed out and back to the main floor of the embassy.

Samesh looked up and met their eyes, hope sparking in his own.

"Hello again, Commander. Has there been any word?" He was wringing his hands again.

She nodded. "I reminded Mr. Bosker what we're fighting for. Your wife is coming home."

"Thank you," he sighed, nodding. "I will return home and begin my preparations. It does not being me happiness, but it may bring me peace. Goodbye, Commander."

"Samesh!" Ash called before he could walk away. "I don't know if this helps, but your wife, Nirali, loved you very much. She missed your cooking and she played recordings of you every night before she went to sleep."

He turned back to face her, tears in his eyes. "I know Miss. Williams. But thank you, it was good to hear again." He smiled sadly at them as the tears he had been holding back began to fall. He walked quickly away looking lighter if not just as sad.

Ash turned and looked away from the group.

"Kaidan," Shepard said quietly grabbing his hand, "why don't you take everyone up to the embassy?" She nodded to Ash slightly and he nodded.

"Yeah," he replied. "Why don't we head up there now?" Garrus seemed to understand and started to follow. Wrex just started walking.

Tali looked at Shepard and waited.

It was hard to tell exactly what she was thinking with her helmet on. But when Tali nodded toward Ash, Shepard understood. She wanted to help.

"Ash?" The Commander started, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you gonna be ok?"

She cleared her throat. "Yeah, Shep," she sniffled. "I'm fine."

Tali walked around and put a hand on Ash's other shoulder. She didn't say anything, just stood with her hand on the shoulder of a woman she didn't hardly know, giving her silent comfort.

They stood for a full minute before Ash stepped away and faced them.

"Thanks, both of you." She forced a smile and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "We should go, I don't trust the boys not to mess something up."

"Good call," Shepard laughed. "Let's go." The women headed up the steps.

"You know my people used to have an embassy here," Tali ventured, trying to change the subject. "But after we created the geth the Council told us we weren't welcome anymore."

"That's . . ." Shepard ran straight into something and bounced off, landing on her ass.

"Shepard!"

She looked up to see Kaidan hastily reaching out to help her up.

"Seriously?" She laughed.

"You gotta stop this Commander," he laughed. "It can't be good for your health."

"Wait?" Ash laughed. "This has happened before?"

"Where's the Captain?" Shepard asked loudly before Kaidan could answer.

"Embassies empty," Wrex answered.

"Then let's head to C-Sec," the Commander replied, trying to ignore the sounds of laughter around her.

"Lead on," Garrus chuckled, not sure what was funny but enjoying the shade of red Shepard was turning.

She turned and headed down the stairs. She started to jog, hoping that if they were moving quickly they couldn't laugh at her. She went down the ramp to the right, following the signs for C-Sec academy. She had no idea exactly how to get there. Not that she was going to tell anyone that.

At the bottom of the ramp there was a large sign that that directed her towards an elevator.

Another elevator.

She pushed the button, not waiting for the others to catch up.

Unfortunately, by the time the door slid open, everyone had caught up, including Wrex.

She strode into the elevator and pushed the button.

"You know," Ash said, breaking the silence of the elevator ride. "Before we leave, I really need to stop by a shop or something."

"What for chief?" Kaidan asked.

"Everything," she sighed. "Everything I owned was on the base at Eden Prime. I don't even have a change of clothes."

"We can stop after we find Anderson and Udina," Shepard assured her.

"Is there a bank around here?" Ash asked. "I don't have a chit on me."

"There's a whole financial district across from the Human Embassy," Garrus explained. "I'm sure you can find what you need around there too."

"I am not going girl shopping," Wrex insisted suddenly. "I will, shoot, gut, and kill anything you want me too, but I draw the line at shopping."

"I wouldn't dream of forcing you to do that," Shepard assured him with a laugh.

The doors slid open and Garrus walked out first, headed down the stairs and to the left. Shepard followed then Kaidan, Ash, Tali, and Wrex last.

Garrus led them down a set of stairs and around a small corner. Down a smaller set of stairs there was a turian behind a desk in a small room surrounded by lockers and Keeper off to one side. Shepard paused quickly to scan the Keeper. The device pinged green and she slid it back into her pocket.

"Garrus?" The turian asked when he was the small group of people enter. "What can I do for you?"

"Nothing for me, sir," he replied motioning Shepard forward. "But the Commander might need a few things."

"Ah, Commander Shepard. It's nice to meet you, give me just a minute." He typed a few things into his computer and waited. A second later it pinged.

"Huh," he muttered typing something else in. "That's strange."

"Something the matter?" She asked.

"It's telling me to show you the reserve stock. Spectre?"

"Yup," she confirmed.

"Oh," he stammered. "I'd heard . . . I just didn't realize . . . congratulations Commander." He stood from his desk and walked over to a row of lockers on the left hand side of the room. "These are the reserve stocks, available only for Spectres and high ranking officials." He punched a code into the locker on the end.

It slid open to reveal an assortment of weapons.

He moved to the next locker and opened that.

This one contained an assortment of human armor.

The next had turian armor.

Then krogan.

Then quarian and batarian.

Finally armor for drells and asari.

"That's a very wide range armor," Kaidan commented.

"Most of it's special orders," he assured them. "Let me know if you see anything you or your team need. I'll ring you up at the desk."

"Thank you," Shepard said, examining a shotgun in the first locker. She reached forward and pulled it out. One glance at the price tag made her falter. It was over fifty-thousand credits. Putting it back into the case she turned back to the man behind the desk.

"Is all of your stock so . . . expensive?" Ash asked.

Shepard's tool pinged and the light on the back of her left had went off.

"Can you excuse me?" She asked, headed back up the stairs to the landing. She punched in her code and the omnitools vid-call interface opened.

"Shepard," Anderson greeted her.

"Captain," she replied, "What can I do for you sir?"

"I need you to head up to the Normandy for a moment."

"Of course sir," she paused. Something didn't seem right. He looked . . . off maybe. Or possibly sad. It was hard to tell through the interface. "I'm in C-Sec right now. We'll head over."

Kaidan walked up the steps toward the Commander as she closed the call. When she looked up at him he could tell there was something wrong. The way her brows came down and her mouth turned down in the corners made her look worried.

"Everything ok?" He asked her quietly.

"Something's up with the Captain," she replied quickly as the rest of the group came up. "Anderson has asked us to return to the Normandy."

After thanking the requisitions officer, the small party headed up to the main floor of the academy and into the large glass elevator that sat in the middle of the room. This elevator, although slow like all the others, was large enough for all of them to fit comfortably.

Everyone chatted quietly about the things they'd seen or would like to buy from the Spectre stock. Shepard was silent, a gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Kaidan watched her out of the corner of his eye. He side stepped closer to her, playing it off as simple shifting of his feet. He reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. He had intended release her immediately afterward, but Shepard clasped his hand tightly and didn't let go.

She was grateful for the contact, for the strength she could take from it.

She didn't look at him of course. She didn't think she could meet his eyes without turning as red as Wrex's armor.

The door behind her opened and she stumbled, pulling Kaidan closer.

"Shepard?" She heard Anderson's voice behind her.

She released Kaidan at once and turned. The look on the Captain's face told her he'd seen the hands, and was displeased.

Damn double door elevators.

"Captain," she said saluting him. Kaidan and Ash followed suite.

"I've got big news for you, Shepard," Udina informed her as her group approached. "Captain Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer of the Normandy. The ship is yours now." He looked very smug as he made such a devastating announcement.

She looked to Anderson, shocked.

He met her gaze head on.

"She's quick and quiet and you know the crew," he explained. "Perfect ship for a Spectre. Treat her well, Commander." His face was a mix of pride and sadness.

Shepard shook her head. "I want the truth, sir," she all but demanded. "Why are you stepping down?"

"You need your own ship," Anderson told her, stepping closer. "A Spectre can't answer to anyone but the Council. And it's time for me to step down."

She stepped up closer to him. "Come clean with me, Anderson," she pressed. "You owe me that much."

He sighed and hung his head. "I was in your shoes twenty years ago, Jen. They were considering me for the Spectres."

"Why didn't you ever mention this?" She asked, feeling empathy for her Captain and her friend.

"What was I supposed to say?!" He demanded, angry at himself. ""I could have been a Spectre but I blew it"? I failed Jennifer. It's not something I'm proud of." He glanced to Udina and then lowered his voice. "Ask me later and I'll tell you the whole story. For now, all you need to know is I was sent on a mission with Saren, and he made sure the Council rejected me.

"I had my shot," he sighed. "It came and went. Now you have a chance to make up for my mistakes."

There was more she wanted to say. A lot more. But the look on Anderson's face stopped her.

"I won't let you down, sir," she assured him.

He nodded, glad she understood. "Saren's gone," he informed her. "Don't even try to find him. But we know what he's after: the Conduit. He's got his geth scouring the Traverse looking for clues."

"We had reports of geth in the Feros system shortly before our colony there dropped out of contact," Udina informed the group. "And there have been sightings around Noveria."

"Find out what Saren was after on Feros and Noveria," Anderson jumped in. "Maybe you can figure out where the Conduit is before he does."

"What about the Reapers?" Shepard asked. "They're the real threat."

"I'm with the Council on this one, Shepard," Udina said dismissively. "I'm not sure they even exist."

"But," Anderson said quickly, seeing Shepard getting ready to argue. "If they do exist, the Conduit's the key to bringing them back. Stop Saren from getting the conduit and we stop the Reapers from returning."

"I'll stop him," she promised her friend. He let out a long breath and nodded.

"We have one more lead," Udina butted in again. "Matriarch Benezia, the other voice on that recording? She has a daughter, a scientist who specializes in the Protheans. We don't know if she's involved but it might be a good idea to try and find her. See what she knows. Her name is Liara. Dr. Liara T'Soni.

"We have reports she was exploring and archeological dig on one of the uncharted worlds in the Artemis Tau cluster."

"Sounds like we should start there," Kaidan offered.

"Agreed," Shepard said.

"It's your decision, Commander," Anderson assured her. "You're a Spectre now. You don't answer to us."

"But your actions still reflect on Humanity as a whole," Udina warned her. "You make a mess and I get stuck cleaning it up."

She glanced and Anderson who shook his head ever so slightly. "I'll try not to make things any harder for your, Ambassador," she said with forced pleasantry. There were several snickers from behind her, which he ignored.

"Glad to hear it, Commander," he boasted, not noticing her fake enthusiasm. "Remember: you were a human long before you were a Spectre."

"Of course," she nodded.

"I have few more legal things to take care of before you can depart," Udina informed her as he stroked his chin. Anderson can answer any other questions you have right now." Without another glance at any of them, he walked away and into the elevator.

Once he was gone she turned back to Anderson, more than a little concerned.

"Was there anything else you needed, Commander?" He asked, his eyes conveying how deeply he didn't wish to discuss what was going on. She respected his need to process things, but she needed answers before she was willing to take a ship from this man.

"How are you holding up?" She asked after a pause.

"Honestly?" He asked, eyeing the crowd around them. She glanced back over her shoulder and looked to Ash and Kaidan. They got the hint and started to show somethings on the ship to the others, distracting them. She looked back to Anderson and nodded. Together they turned and walked a few feet away, looking out over the arm of the ward.

"This isn't how I pictured my career coming to an end. Pushing papers really isn't my thing." He sighed. "But you're the one who can stop Saren. I believe in you Jen. If that means I have to step aside, so be it."

"Thank you," she replied quietly. "For believing."

"I knew there was something special about you," he went on. "When I saw you in that ally all those years ago. I know you'll do great things, Jen and I'm happy to do all I can to help."

"Thank you Anderson," she smiled quietly. He reached over and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Giving her a quick squeeze they turned back to the others.

"There's more paperwork that has to be filed. Udina thinks it'll be about an hour until you can head out. I suggest you and your . . ." he faulted.

"My team," she helped him.

"Your team," he smiled. "Now would be a good time for you to get anything from the Citadel you might need. It could be a while again before you make port."

"Sounds good," she agreed. "Will you be ok?"

"I'll be fine, Commander," he assured her, a finality to his tone.

"I'll let them know." She nodded to the Captain and headed back toward the others, after explaining the situation, and loaning her chit to Ash and Tali, the group dispersed into the elevator, heading in different directions to get the things they needed.

Shepard rode the elevator down and as everyone walked away she started to wander. She had no real destination or purpose. She simply wanted to enjoy her last few moments of alone time. Life on a ship could get crowded. Space and solitude were going to be rare commodities.

After a time she found herself back at the place where she, Ash, and Kaidan had stopped to admire the view.

She walked over again and looked out, leaning against the half wall. So many shuttles and ships zipped past the huge windows. Shepard stood for a long time, just watching.

"You know how you can always tell the tourists on the station?" Garrus asked as he walked up from behind her. He leaned against the half wall, matching her posture. Something that was difficult for him, given his considerable height.

"How can you tell?" She asked with a smile.

"They always stop to see the views," he chuckled. "And complain about slow elevators."

"Hey it is not my fault this place is plagued," she chuckled too.

"Humans, always in a rush," he muttered. "So what are you doing out here alone?"

She shrugged. "What about you? No gun shopping with Wrex? That sounded like it could be pretty exciting." She pushed off the wall and started to head back. She wasn't sure how much time was left but it had to be almost time to head up.

"Well I live here," he explained. "So I've seen the shops."

"Did you get everything you need?"

"Yeah," he fell into step beside her. "Dropped a footlocker at the ship. Didn't want to wait around for half an hour on my own."

"You know I've heard something about turians not liking to be alone," she started, trying to remember.

Garrus opened his mouth to speak and stopped.

"Commander Shepard?" A young woman called from near a column to their left. She bounced up and down on her heels, waving at them. "Excuse me, Commander Shepard!"

"This really happens to you all the time, doesn't it?" Garrus asked under his breath.

"It seems to happen a lot more lately," she muttered as she approached the young woman.

She was about as tall as Shepard, with short black hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a blue dress that had way to many holes in it for the Commanders comfort. As she stood she bounced, excitedly.

"Hi," Shepard said, thinking it might have been a mistake to approach her.

"I'm Emily Wong. I'm a journalist investigating corruption on the Citadel." Shepard glanced to Garrus who nodded, he'd heard of her.

"You recently took down a man named Fist," she continued, rapidly. "Reportedly a member of some sort of organized crime ring. Did you find any evidence in his office? Is there anything you can share with me?"

"Give me one second," Shepard said politely, pulling Garrus away by the arm.

Garrus let the Commander lead him away. Most humans he'd encountered didn't readily touch a turian if they could help it. There was some kind of issue with their scales that humans didn't like. He thought humans were a bit too smooth himself. But this was the second time she'd touched him, he shouldn't be counting, but it was odd.

"What do you think?" Shepard asked him, her hand still on his arm.

"She's a reporter," he confirmed. "I don't know much about her. She's pretty small time, always showing up at crime scenes."

"Okay," she nodded. "Do you still have the disks?"

He reached into a pocket on his waist and pulled out them out.

Taking them, she released his arm and headed back toward the reporter.

"These OSD's might have the information you're looking for," Shepard said as she handed the disks over.

She gasped. "You have Fist's files?" She asked as her jaw hit the floor. "This could be even bigger than I'd hoped!" She bounced excitedly. "Here, Commander. For your trouble." She pulled her omnitool up and punched a few things in. Shepard's tool lit up, informing her of a credit transfer to her Spectre account.

"Now if you'll excuse me," she said merrily. "I should go see what's on these disks!" She nodded her thanks to the two and then bounded away.

"We should start heading back," Shepard said with a sigh. Garrus nodded and they started walking again.

"So, is it all true?" He asked after a few minutes.

"Is what all true?"

"What they say about you? About the blitz?"

Shepard slowed.

Not again.

"Don't want to talk about it?" He asked confused.

"No," she replied shortly.

"Why?" Turians loved to talk about their great battles, hell they sang about them.

"Would you really want to talk about something like that?" She demanded, she wasn't mad at Garrus, just mad that people kept asking her about it. "A battle where most of your team died and you were up against a force with unknown numbers, holding a line by yourself for days on end, knowing you were all that stood between a colony of your people and death? Would you want to talk about that?"

Garrus stared. He'd heard some of the details, but not this many.

"I'm sorry," she said at once. "I didn't mean to jump on you . . ."

"Its fine," he assured her. "I'm sorry I asked. I didn't know . . ."

"Most people don't know all the details," she sighed as she started walking again. "Everybody thinks it's some wonderful battle that should be retold over and over again."

"And all you want to do is forget about it."

"Not exactly . . ."

"Shepard."

Kaidan walked up as they approached the elevator.

"Headed back?" He asked, eyeing the two of them alone. Something akin to jealously flashed in his eyes so quickly, Shepard thought she'd missed it.

"It's about that time."

Anderson watched as Shepard's group started to trickle in. He'd received the update a little while ago that the paperwork for the transfer had gone through with Alliance brass. The ship was now hers to command now.

The elevator opened and Shepard walked out followed by Alenko and Garrus. Which reminded him that he needed to have words with her about that. She found him as she exited and he waved her over.

"Sir?" She asked.

"Do we need to have a discussion about regs, commander?" He asked, trying to be authoritative.

"I . . . regs, sir?" She stammered.

"You and Alenko."

She felt her face color. "He's a friend," she stated. "Or he will be I guess. I don't know him very well."

He looked at her, unconvinced.

"The paperwork's gone through," he informed her at last. "She's all yours now Commander."

"Thank you, sir. I won't let you down."

"I know, Shepard," he patted her on the shoulder. "I'll be here for while still if you need anything. Once HQ sets me up somewhere I'll let you know where to reach me." He saluted her.

She saluted back.

With a final pat on the back, Anderson headed into the elevator.

Shepard turned to her new crew. "Everybody have what they need?" She asked.

There were nods and murmurs of agreement all around. Except Wrex who grunted. "Okay. Then we're gonna head inside. Kaidan, can you show everyone around while I talk to Joker? I need to speak to the crew and then we'll find a place for everyone to sleep."

"I can do that," he assured her.

"Then here we go." She walked through the first set of doors.

" _Stand by shore party_ ," the ships VI announced. " _Decontamination in progress._ " The white light of the decontaminator passed over them in a few sweeps. There was a hiss as the pressure equalized and then the interior door slid open.

Kaidan led the others off to the right while Shepard turned left toward the bridge.

Having heard the door, Joker turned in his seat to see who was coming.

"Hey," she started as she walked up. "I heard what happened to Captain Anderson. Survives a hundred battles, and then gets taken out by back room politics." He scoffed. "Just watch your back, Commander. If things go bad on this mission, you're next on their chopping block."

She nodded in agreement.

"Captain Anderson should be the one in charge," she sighed, putting a voice to her feeling of unease. "It's like I'm stealing the ship from him."

"Yeah the Captain got screwed," he commented. "But it's not like you could've stopped it." He turned in his seat and faced her, his light green eyes met hers and she could see him understanding and reassurance in them. "Nobody's blaming you. Everybody on this ship is behind you one hundred percent."

"Thank you," she told him earnestly.

He nodded. "The intercom's open. If you've got anything you want to say to the crew, now's the time."

"Okay," she took a deep breath. Joker pointed her toward the mic and she leaned forward, knowing she need to be honest with the crew. "This is Commander Shepard speaking. We have our orders: find Saren before he finds the Conduit. I won't lie to you, crew. This mission isn't going to be easy.

"This began with an attack on a human settlement in the Traverse. But we know Saren won't stop there. His geth armies aren't going to stay on the far fringes of Citadel space. For too long our species has stood apart from the others. Now it's time for us to step up and do our part for the rest of the galaxy! Time to show them what humans are made of!

"Our enemy knows we're coming. When we go into the Traverse, Saren's followers will be waiting for us. But we'll be ready for them too.

"Humanity needs to do this. Not just for our own sake, but for the sake of every other species in Citadel Space. Saren must be stopped, and I promise you all . . . we will stop him!"


	5. Chapter 5

She nodded to Joker and he clicked the comm off.

She sighed and shook her head. She didn't realize she'd been shaking.

"Well said Commander," Joker reassured her. "Captain would be proud."

"The Captain gave up everything so I could have this chance. We can't fail."

"Yes ma'am."

She smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "You ready for this?"

"I was born ready," he replied confidently. "When you're ready just punch in the coordinates in the galaxy map and I'll get us going."

"Thanks, again, Joker."

He nodded and turned back to the consoles and screens before him.

Shepard turned and looked down the long hall toward the CIC.

She hesitated.

"Something wrong, Commander?" Joker asked when he didn't hear her leave.

"No, nothing's wrong."

"You don't know what to do now, do you?"

She sighed. "I know what to do. I just need a minute."

Joker turned his seat so he could face Shepard. "You sure everything's okay, Commander?"

"So much is riding on us," she explained. "I can't screw this up. I just needed a minute let that all sink in." She looked back at him and noticed that once again he was making a face as he looked at her.

"Take us to the Atriums Tau Cluster," she told him, ignoring the look.

"What system?" He asked turning back to his controls.

"I'm not sure yet. Start in Sparta, that's where the relay is. We'll figure it out from there."

"Sounds good. What are we looking for?"

"An asari who might have some answers, I hope," she turned back toward the CIC. "How long until we get there?"

"We should be there by this time tomorrow," he told her. "Around twenty hours or so."

"Good," she contemplated. "That'll give me time to get to know the crew better."

"Or sleep could be good too," he offered jokingly.

She was going to make a joke back but a thought struck her. "What time do we run on?"

"Alliance Command," he informed her. "So that boils down to the same time as Vancouver, Canada."

Shepard pulled her omnitool up and changed her settings to match that time zone whenever she was on the Normandy.

"Thanks, Joker," she replied gratefully.

"Any time."

With a destination set, Shepard set out toward the CIC. As she passed the members of the crew stood and saluted her. As she rounded the table the team of navigators, including Pressley saluted.

"Commander," he said, as she walked up. "I wanted you to know that while I don't like how things went down with Captain Anderson; I'm with you."

"Thank you Pressley," she shook his hand when he offered it. "Which reminds me. As the second highest ranking official on this ship, you're the XO. If you want it."

He saluted her again. "It would be my privilege, Commander."

She saluted back and turned to leave.

"Commander," he said, quieter. "I couldn't help but notice all the non-humans who boarded . . ." He let his question fall away.

"Don't worry XO," she assured him, not looking to have a conversation about non-humans on an Alliance vessel. "They're my team and I trust them. If you'll excuse me."

"Of course, Commander," he replied.

She moved on, around to the door on the right that would lead her down to the second floor. At the bottom she moved past the doors to the barracks and around the elevator. She could see Kaidan across the room working on something. She hesitated.

Remembering what Anderson said about regs, she headed in to see the doctor.

"Hello Commander," she greeted her cheerfully. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I was making rounds getting to know the crew a little better. Do you mind if I ask you a few things?"

"Of course not," she smiled kindly at her. "I think it's a wonderful idea. What would you like to know?"

"How did you end up serving on an alliance ship?" She went with the most obvious.

She chuckled. "I enlisted right out of med school. Earth always seemed boring to me . . . too safe, too secure. I figured the colonies were teeming with exotic adventure. I wanted to travel the stars, tending the wounds of tough soldiers with piercing eyes and sensitive souls.

"Turns out military life isn't quite as romantic as I'd imagined."

The two women shared a laugh.

"Earth was too boring?" Shepard asked disbelieving.

"Well London was boring. I take it Chicago was not as dull?"

"The only thing dull in Chicago was my future," she joked slightly bitter. "At least until Anderson found me."

"He mentioned something about you on the streets?" Chakwas asked gently. She clearly didn't want to pry.

"Yea, most of my life. So why did you stay with the Alliance?"

Understanding her meaning, the doctor shifted with her. "Well humanity needs the Alliance if we want to keep expanding through the Traverse, and the Alliance always needs good doctors. So I stayed on to do my part."

"Ever wonder if you made the wrong choice?"

She shrugged. "Sometimes I think about opening a private practice back on Earth, or maybe taking a position at one of the new med centers out in the colonies. But there's just something special about working on soldiers. If I left the Alliance now, I'd feel like I was abandoning them."

"That's very noble," Shepard remarked.

"Maybe."

"Thank you for talking with me, doctor. I'm sure we'll talk later."

"I'm sure. Goodbye, Commander."

Shepard turned and headed out of the medbay, feeling like she knew a little more about the doctor and her crewmate.

She glanced over at Kaidan, who must have sensed her eyes because he looked up and met hers. Smiling awkwardly, she walked over to see what he was doing.

"Anything you need, Commander?" he asked as a group of crewmen from navigation walked past, eyeing them.

"What's your opinion on the last mission?" She asked, searching for a reason to be talking to him that didn't sound stupid. Not that she should be worried about that.

"I don't see how we could have done things any better. At least not without getting to Eden Prime sooner. But we were on the scene faster than any other Alliance ship could have been."

She nodded.

"Was there something else?" He asked, searching for conversation topics.

"Well I'm going around trying to get to know the crew and get a sense of where everyone's at," she explained. "Thoughts?"

He shrugged. "Things with the Council didn't go the way we hoped, and I don't think anyone could have predicted how things would have played out with the Captain." He glanced around and lowered his voice. "But I know you'll make him proud, Shepard." He smiled at her and smiled back.

"I've probably wasted enough of your time," he told her as another few crewmen walked past them. "We'll have time for personal debriefings later."

"We'll talk later LT." She turned to head away.

"Oh, Commander," he added, grabbing her hand before she could walk away. She turned and looked at him, both dropping each other's hands and looking away. "I . . . uh . . . I wanted to tell you they moved your thing to the Captain's cabin, just before we came on board."

"Why?" She asked before she had thought about it.

"It's your cabin now." He looked at her with a mix of admiration and . . . and . . . something she couldn't place.

"Thanks, for letting me know."

She started to walk away and stopped. "Where is the rest of the crew at?" She realized she didn't see a krogan, turian, or a quarian anywhere.

"They headed down to the cargo bay," he explained. "I don't think they were comfortable up here with the rest of the crew."

"Hmm," she puzzled. "I'll go down and check on them."

He nodded and turned back to his work.

She headed to the elevator, wishing she'd brought a book to help pass the time on the long ride to the bottom.

When the door finally opened she was surprised to see not just Wrex and Garrus, but Ash too. Garrus was over by the Mako, and closer than the others, not to mention Wrex and Ash were discussing a gun down at the armory table. So she headed over to talk to her new turian crewmen.

As she got closer she could see him working on a small command console near the vehicle.

"Hey," she called as she got closer.

"Hey Commander," he greeted her as he turned to face her. "Thanks for bringing me on board. I knew working with a Spectre would be better than life at C-Sec."

She looked at him quizzically. "Have you worked with a Spectre before?"

"Well . . . no," he admitted. "But I know what they're like." He told her confidently. "Spectres make their own rules. You're free to handle things your way." He sighed bitterly and walked a few paces away. Before she could ask what he meant, he turned back to her.

"At C-Sec, you're buried by rules. The damn bureaucrats are always on your back."

"For the most part," she countered, "the rules are there for a reason."

He looked at her disbelievingly. "Maybe," he started. "But sometimes it feels like the rules are only there to stop me from doing my work. If I'm trying to take down a subject, it shouldn't matter how I do it, as long as I do it.

"But C-Sec wants it done their way. Protocol and procedure come first. That's why I left."

"So you just quit because you didn't like the way they do things?" She asked, suddenly doubting the faith she had placed in this stranger.

He sighed. Garrus could tell he wasn't getting his point across the way he wanted to. "There's more to it than that," he explained. "It didn't start out bad, but as I rose in ranks, I got saddled with more and more red tape. C-Sec's handling of Saren was typical. I just couldn't take it anymore. I hate leaving . . ." he let his sentence fall away.

She understood what he was saying. It was hard to be so limited by the rules. "I hope you made the right choice. I'd hate for you to regret it later."

"Well, that's sort of why I teamed up with you," he told her. "It's a chance for me to get off the Citadel, see how things are done outside of C-Sec. Either way I plan to make the most of this. And without C-Sec headquarters looking over my shoulder, well, maybe I can get the job done my way for a change."

She did not like the way that sounded. "If getting the job done means endangering innocent people, then, no. We get the job done right, not fast. Got it?" She needed him to understand how she ran things from the start. She couldn't abide fast and loose runs during this mission. Too much was at stake.

"I wasn't trying to . . ." he stammered. "I understand, Commander."

"Thank you," she said feeling a little awkward.

There was an awkward silence, as neither was sure what to say.

"So . . ." she started. "How are you settling?"

"Fine," he replied. "I was just looking over your ground vehicle here."

"Ah the Mako," she chuckled.

"Mako?" he asked, not sure what was funny.

"Yea, it's a newer model than the one they trained me on. I certainly hope this one is more flame retardant," she said more to herself than Garrus.

"Now that sounds like a story," he laughed.

"Oh it is," she muttered, recalling how angry her drill Sargent had been.

She glanced at him.

His blue eyes were watching her, waiting for her to share.

"Yeah, I don't know you well enough to have this conversation. Nor am I anywhere near drunk enough."

"Another time then," he sighed disappointed. "Well I'm gonna check the main battery on this thing and see if it needs any calibrating."

"Sounds good," Shepard agreed. "Have they gotten you set up in the barracks yet?"

He pulled a face, she thought. "I was thinking I'd just stay down here, if that's alright."

"In the cargo bay?"

"Yes."

She contemplated for a moment. "Well I can have a bunk brought down for you, it that would help."

"Thanks Shepard." He nodded and turned back to the monitor.

With a quite sigh, she turned away and started toward Wrex and Ash.

Her conversation with Garrus had been a train wreck, to put it mildly. But at least she knew him better and he knew where she stood on mission parameters. She wondered for a moment why he didn't want to stay in the barracks. But then again she knew very little about turians.

As she walked toward the armory Wrex headed away from the table where Ash was cleaning the guns, and headed toward her.

"Nice ship you got, Shepard," he commented. "What can I do for you?"

"Trying to get to know the crew better," she told him.

"Why?" He asked abruptly.

"Why not?" She countered.

He shrugged.

"So what's your story, Wrex?"

"There's no story," he grumbled. "Go ask the quarian if you want stories."

"The krogan live for centuries," she persisted. "Don't tell me you haven't had a few interesting adventures."

He scowled at her. "Well there was this one time the turians almost wiped out our entire race. That was fun," he was trying to sound sarcastic but it came off very bitter. Not that she blamed him.

"I heard about that," she said quietly. "You know, they almost did the same to us."

"It's not the same," he snapped angrily.

"It seemed pretty much the same to me," she countered defensibly.

"So your people were infected with a genetic mutation?" He demanded. "An infection that makes only a few in a thousand children survive birth? And I suppose it's destroying your entire species?"

She took a deep breath. "I suppose it isn't all the same."

"I don't expect you to understand," he said, his voice losing some of its edge. "But don't compare humanity's fate with the krogan."

"Sorry, Wrex," she apologized. "I wasn't trying to get you upset."

"Your ignorance doesn't upset _me_ , Shepard," he said pointedly. "As for the krogan, I gave up on them a long time ago."

He stared out past Shepard, no longer seeing her or the ship. He was lost in some far off memory. A painful one by the looks of it.

"The genophage infected us," he started again. "But it's not what's killing us."

Shepard knew very little about the sterility plague that had been inflicted on the krogan. It dawned on her that she knew little about the krogan in general.

"What can you tell me about the genophage?" She asked, hoping it wouldn't be too painful a subject.

"Ask the salarians if you want details. They made it," his voice was bitter again and dripping with disdain. "All I know: it makes breeding nearly impossible. Thousands die in stillbirth, and most never get that far. Every krogan is infected. Every one. And no one's rushing to find a cure."

"Why don't the krogan try to find a cure?" She puzzled.

"When was the last time you saw a krogan scientist?" He asked as though the answer should have been obvious. "You ask a krogan: would you rather find a cure for the genophage, or fight for credits? He'll choose fighting every time. It's just who we are, Shepard. I can't change that. Nobody can."

She nodded, she didn't fully understand what was wrong, but she knew enough to tell Wrex was done talking about it.

"Are you people really dying?" She asked instead.

"We're sure not getting any stronger," he grunted. "We're too spread out. None of us are interested in staying in our own system."

"Lots of species have left their homes and prospered," she offered.

"But they go to colonize new worlds," he countered. "We're not settlers. We're warriors. We want to fight. So we leave. Hire ourselves out. And most of us never go back." His voice had fallen considerably in as the conversation had gone on.

Not wanting a repeat of what happened with Garrus, she decided it was best to leave him be.

"Thank you, for talking with me Wrex," she said, turning to head out.

"Wait a minute," he called as she started walking.

"What's wrong?"

"You asked me questions, now it's my turn."

"Oh," she started, surprised. She hadn't realized that her new crew might want to know about her too. They didn't have access to Alliance personal files. She wasn't looking forward to having to answer questions about her.

She should have thought this through better.

"What do you want to know?"

"I've heard a lot about you and this blitz."

"That's not a question."

"Did you hold of a batarian pirate raiding party, alone?"

"Yes."

"That's it?"

She sighed. "Most of my squad was dead or dying," she explained. "If that position fell the entire colony would have too. So, yes, I held it, alone."

"How did a human, a female human, do that alone?" Wrex wasn't trying to be insulting. He was a warrior, who respected the things she'd done. He simply wanted more details, krogan love battle details.

"A mixture of well-timed shots, biotics, and luck."

Wrex grunted a laugh. "Humans," he muttered.

"I should get going," she told him, not wanting to talk anymore.

"Shepard," he said in parting.

Turning away quickly she headed toward Ash, who had been watching her exchange with Wrex.

"Commander," she said as Shepard approached.

"How are you doing Chief?"

She shrugged. "I'm happy to be aboard and to be serving with you ma'am."

"But?" Shepard added when Ash didn't continue.

"I keep thinking about Eden Prime."

"Anything in particular weighing on your mind?"

"I kinda wish you'd gotten their sooner, Commander," she started. "No offense, I appreciate the rescue I just wish . . ." she let her words trail off.

"You wish we'd been able to save the rest of your unit." Shepard finished for her.

"Yes ma'am," she replied solemnly. "If I'd been more alert we wouldn't have been cut down by an ambush."

Shepard shook her head, "The geth are perfect ambushers. The don't move, they don't make noise, hell they don't even breath."

"They have flashlight heads, Shepard," Ash countered. "But don't worry, I'll make sure it never happens again."

"Ash," she started.

"I'm sorry, Commander," she cut in, her tone formal. "I need to get my duties squared away." After a thought she added, "But I wouldn't mind talking later, Shepard."

She nodded. If there was one thing Shepard understood, it was not wanting to talk about missions that go FUBAR.

"Dismissed, Chief," she said as sympathetically as she could.

"Ma'am," she parted with a grateful nod.

As Ash turned back to her work with the guns, Shepard turned and headed for engineering. Something told her that's where she would find Tali. She should also get to know the chief engineer while she was down there. It would do her good to know a little bit more about how the ship runs.

The door slid open and she was momentarily blinded.

The core of the ship was so bright, and she was completely unprepared for it.

She started down a small ramp that leveled off after a few feet. There was a handful of consoles and control panels running along the front of the core, with what looked like a main control unit in the center. In the back, center most part of the ship, the impressive core spun around in circles. What it was doing and why it had to spin were beyond her.

It was easy enough to spot the chief engineer. He was the only man in the room with a bar on his shoulder. There was a handful of other people going back and forth from one console to another. Tali was all the way to the left rapidly typing on a console.

As she approached the chief turned to see who was coming. He took in the sight of her and recognition flashed in his eyes.

"Commander," she said stepping up and shaking her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. And we're all honored to be serving with you."

"The honor is mine," she replied as he released his hand and stepped back. "And you are?"

"Oh!" He laughed jollily. "I'm Greg Adams. Chief engineer for the SSV Normandy."

"It's nice to meet you Adams. How is everything down here?"

He glanced around for a moment. "You know that quarian? Tali?" He started, "She's been asking me about our engines, a lot."

Shepard nodded, she was afraid this might happen. "I'll tell her to leave you alone," she assured him.

"What?" He asked alarmed. "No! She's amazing! I wish my guys were half as smart as she is. Give her a month on board and she'll know more about our engines than I do! She's got a real knack for technology, that one. I can see why you wanted her to come along."

Shepard nodded, a little surprised about his reaction. "I figured she'd be a real asset to the team," she replied.

"You've got a real eye for talent, Commander. But I'm guessing that's not why you came down here."

"I want to know more about the Normandy," she told him earnestly.

Kaidan watched Shepard turn and head for the elevator. When he was sure it was on its way down, he turned and beat his head against the wall a few times. He was thirty-two and a solider and he barely knew her!

Not to mention she was Commander Shepard, hero of Elysium, member of N7, and now his direct commanding officer.

The things he was thinking about, and the way he'd been acting.

What was it about Shepard that made him act like an idiot?

She was beautiful.

But he'd seen beautiful women before.

There was just something about her.

Something he couldn't place.

Something that seemed to draw him to her.

Maybe that was just the kind of person she was.

Either way, he needed to get himself under control before he found himself facing disciplinary actions for breaking regs.

With a long sigh he turned back to the public extranet terminal he'd broken the other day after Shepard had been hurt. If he didn't get it fixed soon they'd have to put in a repair order and he'd have to explain how it got broken.

That would be awkward.

He needed to fix it fast.

Twenty minutes later Shepard was thanking Adams for all of the information he'd shared with her about the ship, her ship. She shook his hand again and started to head over to talk to Tali, who had, on several occasions, glanced over and giggled about something Adams was telling her.

Tali saw her coming and almost bounced with excitement.

"You ship's amazing, Shepard!" She exclaimed. "I've never seen a drive core like this before! I can't believe you were able to fit in in a ship this small! I'm starting to understand why you humans have been so successful. I had no idea Alliance vessels were so advanced!"

"Well the Normandy's a prototype. Cutting edge technology," Shepard explained.

"A month ago," she explained, "I was patching a makeshift fuel line on a converted tug ship in the flotilla. Now I'm sitting on one of the most advanced ships in Citadel space. I have to thank you for bringing me along. Traveling on a vessel like this is a dream come true for me."

"I had no idea you found ship technology so interesting," Shepard noted.

"It comes with being quarian," Tali explained with a mix of sadness and pride. "The Migrant Fleet is the key to the survival of my people. Ships are our most valuable resources."

Shepard nodded. It made sense.

"But we don't have anything like this," she said in awe. Tali extended her arms our and circled around slowly, taking in the whole of the ship. "We make do with cast-off's and second-hand equipment. We just try to keep them running for as long as we can. Some of the fleet's larger vessels date all the way back to our original flight from the geth."

"I can't believe you fleet's still using ships that are three centuries old," Shepard said disbelievingly.

"They're constantly being repaired, modified, and refitted. They aren't pretty, but they work," she thought about it. "Mostly. We've tried to make ourselves as independent as possible on the flotilla. Grow our own food, mine and process our own fuel.

"But somethings we just can't make on our own. A patch to maintain the hull integrity requires hull materials we just don't have. That's why our Pilgrimages are so important."

"What happens at the end of your Pilgrimage?" She asked.

"Well, we present the captain of the respective ship we want to join with whatever resource we've found. It's a gift and a way of showing we can hold our own and not be a burden. If the gift is accepted, we are welcomed into the crew."

"Can a captain choose to reject the gift?" Shepard inquired.

She shook her head. "That doesn't happen often," she explained. "Most captains are eager to increase the size of their crew. It increases their own standing in our society. Even when a gift isn't particularly valuable, the captain usually accepts it out of a sense of tradition. However, there is a stigma to presenting a sub-standard gift."

"Oh?" Shepard said, enjoying learning more about Tali. Even if she didn't understand the culture that much.

"It's not the best way to make a good impression on a new community. Most Pilgrims don't return until they find something worthwhile."

"Still," Shepard pondered, hitting on the issue that unsettled her the most. "I can't believe they just send you off alone."

Tali laugh, dry and humorless. "It's not like they cast us out," she assured the Commander. "Before we leave, we are given lessons on how to survive outside the flotilla, and given gifts to help us on our journey.

"We also receive implants to fight off sickness and disease," she cleared her throat and looked around. "Years of living in an isolated and highly controlled environment have left our immune systems weaker than most.

"By the time we leave the fleet, we are well equipped for the Pilgrimage. This is a rite of passage for all quarians. If it were dangerous our numbers would suffer. Virtually all Pilgrimages end with a triumphant return and the ritual presentation of the gift to one of the fleet's captains."

"You have a lot of pride in your traditions," Shepard observed.

"I do," she confirmed with a nod. "Is that bad?" She sounded concerned. Tali knew so little about humans.

"Not at all," Shepard assured her. "I don't have traditions. And I enjoy learning about other peoples."

"Why don't you have traditions?" Tali asked. It was such an odd concept for her. No traditions was like having no family. It was bizarre and just a little preposterous.

Shepard took a deep breath and told her, "I'm an orphan. It's kinda hard to have traditions when you don't have a family."

"Keelah!" Tali exclaimed, cursing her big mouth. "Shepard I'm so sorry. I didn't know . . ."

"Don't worry about it," she cut in, trying to calm her down. "It's ok to ask. I'm asking you a lot about you, it's only fair for you to ask me questions too."

"But no family," she started. "I can't imagine."

"I take it you and your family are really close?" Shepard asked, venturing a guess.

"For the quarians, we're all family. Every member of every ship is brother and sister to every other member. We're one big family."

"That must be nice."

"Sometimes."

There was a moment where neither spoke.

"So have you found a place to settle in?" The Commander asked at last.

"Yes. Chief Williams showed me the women's quarters and got me set up on a bunk in there."

"Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes, thank you Commander."

"I should go," she said finally.

"I'll talk to you later." She turned back to the console she'd been working on and began to fervently type again.

Shepard headed back out into the cargo hold. Everyone here was busy working on one thing or the other. They didn't look up as she walked round to the elevator. They all had a job to do. Even the new crewmen she'd picked up on the Citadel we're throwing themselves into work on the ship. They hadn't even been here an hour.

She punched the button for elevator and sighed as it made its slow crawl up to the next level. What exactly is she supposed to do now? She assumed she would be assigned a task by Anderson. But as the Commander of the vessel, it was on her responsibility to find jobs for everyone.

Not that she needed to.

They all knew what they were doing. It was a damn fine crew.

So that still left the question: what she should do now.

The door finally opened and she walked out slowly.

She could go to her quarters, she supposed. Get things situated there.

As she rounded the corner she stopped short, nearly running into Kaidan for the third time.

"Shepard!" He stated. "We have to stop running into each other like this." He joked.

"Yeah," she agreed laughing. "Literally."

There was momentary silence as neither knew what to say. The sound of a bell rang out through the ship.

"Dinner," he explained when he saw the look on her face.

"Oh."

"Would you like to accompany me, Commander?"

"I would," she confirmed. "Especially because I have no idea the protocol for dinner on this ship."

Kaidan chuckled good-naturedly as they headed toward the mess. A few moments later the rest of the crew had made their way slowly in that direction. Some took trays of food and headed off to different parts of the ship. Some sat at the tables eating and conversing.

Shepard and Kaidan settled at a table that sat below several screens, all displaying different news networks.

"Commander," Ash greeted as she sat down across from her, "LT."

"Chief," Kaidan nodded as he took a sip of his water.

"What kind of bizarre human food is this?" Wrex complained loudly as he sat down next to Ash.

"It's called Mac and Cheese," Shepard informed him.

"I'm just grateful your cook knows how to make dextro food," Tali observed as she took the seat on other side of Ash. "I got some food on the Citadel just in case."

"Dextro food on a human ship," Garrus commented as he sat down on the other side of Shepard. He raised his fork to everyone and took a bite. "And it's actually pretty good."

"When the Normandy was being built," Kaidan explained. "We had a lot of turians coming and going all the time. Captain Anderson wanted to make sure we had a Mess Sargent who could cook for everyone onboard."

"Lucky for us," Tali observed as she stuck a piece of food through the filter on her mask.

Conversation dropped off as the six ate. Every so often a crewmember would come and take one of the two seats on the end, usually next to Kaidan as none seemed brave enough to eat next to the krogan. Some would walk by and introduce themselves to the Commander. A few mentioned the blitz, but most just seemed pleased to see her eating with the crew.

"Did Anderson not eat with you?" She asked Kaidan after a young woman named Samantha walked away.

"He was usually too busy," he explained. "He took his meals in his cabin while he went over paperwork and reports."

"Something to look forward to then," she observed grimly.

A while later the group of people eating had dwindled down to just the six of them and Engineer Adams.

He and Tali exchanged conversation across the table as the others finished their food. Most of what they were talking about was way over Shepard's head. But she understood "core" and maybe a handful of other words.

"So are you two sure you don't want a bunk in the crew quarters?" She asked Garrus and Wrex. "There's enough room."

"Not for me there isn't," Wrex grunted. "I like to stretch out and dominate the space I'm in. Might not go over to well with the rest of them."

"You might be right," she conceded. "And you Garrus?"

He shrugged. "I'm fine in the hold," he assured her. "After the Citadel and C-Sec a little privacy will be nice."

Wrex grunted but said nothing.

Shepard stifled a yawn, trying not to stretch into Garrus or Kaidan.

"Tired?" Kaidan asked.

"Apparently," she replied. "Well if you all will excused me," she stood and grabbed her tray. "I think I'll put my quarters in order and get some rest."

"It's almost time for lights out anyway," Ash observed.

"Human vessels have a bed time?" Wrex laughed.

Shepard stepped away as he and Ash set into a conversation weighing the benefits and restrictions of having a lights out time. She set her tray in the sink and washed her hands. Kaidan and Garrus were right behind her.

"I suppose I will see you all in the morning," she said walking toward her door.

"What time do humans get up on a ship?" Garrus asked.

"0600 hours local time," Kaidan informed them.

Garrus pulled up his omnitool and checked a few things. "In that case I think I'll turn in also. Lieutenant, Commander."

"Goodnight, Kaidan," Shepard said quietly.

He met her eyes and held them for a moment. "Good night," he hesitated. He wanted to call her by her first name. But he'd seen the way she reacted to in the taxi. Finally, and before the silence got awkward, he added, "Shepard."

She flashed him a smile and headed into her quarters.

As the door hissed closed she sighed and leaned against it.

Too much change too soon.

She glanced around the room and thought about putting her things away, or starting the pile of paperwork she need to do for the alliance and for the Council. Her eyes fell on the bed.

Sleep.

That's what she was going to do.

Sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

An explosion rocked the ground around her and she fell forward.

The batarians were making another push.

She used her biotics to throw grenades from several places along the wall.

She waited for the explosions but heard none.

Taking a chance she poked her head over the wall.

The batarians were gone.

She stood and looked around again.

There was a strange sound from behind her.

She spun.

Too late.

A geth, bigger than any she'd seen, cocked a shotgun and fired at her.

The particles hit her barrier and sent her flying over the barricade. She tried to brace for her fall, but she wasn't quick enough. She hit the hard packed dirt of the floor and her head bounced painfully.

Shepard got to her feet to find she was no longer on Elysium. Now she was on the Normandy.

She ran forward but her legs felt like they were moving through water.

Another geth appeared around the corner with a grenade launcher. It fired at her but the shot went wide and hit the hull. There was a sound of rushing air as hole grew larger and larger. People were screaming and running around. Geth were pouring out of every door.

Shepard threw herself in front of the hole and tried to plug it with a barrier.

It was too strong.

Images flashed in her mind.

Death.

Destruction.

Organics and synthetics warring against each other.

It was the beacon again.

Only now the people dying were her people.

Kaidan.

Ash.

Garrus.

Wrex.

Tali.

Joker.

Even Adams and Pressley.

They were dying.

And it was her fault.

She couldn't save them.

She couldn't save any of them.

Shepard shut up in bed, covered in a cold sweat and breathing so hard she was sure her heart would explode.

It was a dream.

A nightmare.

Another nightmare about the blitz.

Only this one was different.

That damn beacon was turning her nightmares into . . . worse nightmares.

She swung her feet over the side of the bed and got up.

Picking her old grey robe up off the chair, she wrapped herself up and headed out of the room.

The ship was silent.

Only the floor lights and a few sparse overhead lights were still on.

It was a stark reminder of how dark space was.

She crept forward, quiet in her bare feet. She headed up the stairs toward the CIC and the bridge.

As she went she was surprised to find that no one was awake.

She hadn't ever served on a ship before, but she was certain there was supposed to be a night crew of some kind.

Or so she thought.

She stopped just outside the door to the stairs.

The CIC was dark and quiet.

Even the galaxy map was off.

The only light on this level came streaming in from the bridge.

Up she went, cursing herself for not putting slippers on. The mostly metal floor was cold.

"Evening," she said quietly to Joker when she was nearly behind him.

He jumped in his chair and cursed loudly.

"SON OF A BITHC!" He screamed. "Commander?! You scared the shit out of me!"

"I'm sorry," she apologized, trying hard not to laugh. "I thought you heard me walking up. There isn't another sound out there."

"Look when I get in the zone I don't hear anything but the ship. You need like a . . . bell . . . or something." He grumbled.

"What like a cat?" She asked taking the seat to his left.

"Maybe." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. The same look she'd seen him give her before.

"What?" She asked, slightly annoyed.

"What?!" He asked, confused.

"The look you're giving me, right now," she explained. "What is this look?"

"I'm not . . . looking at you," he stammered.

"You are, right now." She sighed. "Which is it? You don't think I should be commanding the ship or you don't believe what they say about me?"

Joker opened his mouth and then closed it again. He looked away from the commander and back out the Normandy's windows.

"You remind me of my sister," he said at last.

"Your . . . what?"

"I have a sister, she's twelve and living on Arcturus Station with my family. You look like her."

"I look like your sister," she repeated.

"Not exactly like her," he explained. "You're taller and blonder and your eyes are greener I think." He glanced back at her. "Yeah greener. But the shape of your face and your 'I'm-the-most-badass-chick-here' thing."

"Your twelve year old sister is a badass?"

"We don't call her Gunny for nothin."

"Hm," she pondered. "In that case I'm sorry, for exploding at you."

"I get it. Lot of people lookin at you lately."

"Yeah, lately."

"Not so much lately?" He questioned.

"So why are you still awake?" She asked, dodging his question.

"Somebody has to fly the ship."

"Can't the VI fly the ship while you sleep? Or a co-pilot that can take over?"

He waved her words away, "this ship is brand new and state of the art. I don't want anyone or anything flying her until I've put her through her paces."

"So there's no night pilot? Or crew?"

"Not while were flying. If we were docked then, yeah. We'd have a crew active all day."

Shepard nodded but said nothing.

"So why do they look at you?" He asked when she remained quiet.

"One of two reasons," she started with a sigh. "Either they heard about the blitz and they look at me because they don't believe I'm capable of what they say. Or they hear I'm N7 and they don't think I'm old enough. The age thing is kind of hard for people to get over."

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye again. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-eight to thirty-one," she commented offhandedly.

"How do you not know?"

"I'm an orphan," she repeated for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

"I think I heard something about that. But how does that explain the age range?"

"I was left at a firehouse when I was a baby. No birth certificate; only a note explaining that my parents couldn't deal with me."

Joker could hear the tension in her voice. He didn't want to press her for more info than she wanted to give. So he dropped the subject and the bridge fell back into silence.

"So not much for sleep then?" He asked after a while.

"Bad dreams."

"Blitz?"

"Beacon."

"That bad?"

"Maybe if it made sense it wouldn't be so bad. But it's all jumbled up, fragments and flashes."

"Commander?"

Joker and Shepard turned.

Kaidan was standing just outside the bridge wearing a pair of striped pajama pants and a loose blue robe. He had a cup of something, she assumed coffee, in his hand and the faintest trail of steam could be seen rising from the rim.

"Mornin Kaidan," Joker called, turning back to the control panels.

"What are you two up to?" He asked, trying to keep his voice nonchalant.

"I couldn't sleep." She leaned over and checked the time on Joker's consol. It was about five thirty. She wasn't going to be getting anymore sleep tonight. Not to mention the rest of the crew would be up soon. She should hit the showers before everyone else woke up.

"Couldn't handle all that space?" Kaidan joked as she stood and stretched.

"Bad dreams," Joker answered for her when she yawned.

"I should head back down," she said when she could. "You gonna be ok Joker?"

"Yeah, I'll sleep when I'm dead." She raised an eyebrow at him. "I'll sleep when we land. _Mom_ ," he added under his breath. She rolled her eyes at him headed out toward the CIC. A second later she felt, more than heard, Kaidan fall into step beside her.

"Bad dreams, Shepard?" He asked with forced lightness.

She smiled, not exactly sure why his concern made her stomach flip. "Yeah. A mix of the blitz and the vision from the beacon."

"Bad?"

"Bad."

"Anything I can do? Or that the crew can do, I mean."

She smiled again. "I think it's just because it's still fresh. I'm sure things will be better tomorrow."

He reached out and hesitated. It wasn't his place to comfort her, not physically. Or anyway actually. Still, his hand hovered over her shoulder for another second before he let it fall back at his side. He could walk with her, he realized. At the very least he could walk with her and talk with her if she would let him.

"You're up early," she stated, trying to fill the silence.

"Yeah I have hard time sleeping late on a ship."

"Why?" She asked.

"I think it's the lack of sunlight. I always feel like I'm gonna oversleep because it's so dark."

"Hm," she pondered, not really sure what to say to that.

She slowed as she reached the door for her quarters. Kaidan had followed her all the way over, moving past the crew quarters. They came to a stop and stared at each other for a moment. Shepard tried to keep her eyes anywhere but on his open shirt.

He was very fit. Most marines were fit of course, but he was so far beyond that. It was very distracting. She need to do or say something before her staring became obvious.

"Hey, I wanted to say thank you." She said at last.

"For what?"

"For being my friend, or trying to I guess," she faltered. This had all sounded so much better in her head.

"Friend?"

She couldn't tell if he was happy or sad about what she was saying. Suddenly this whole conversation was going down fast.

"You've been very kind to me, even though you don't know me, and you've acted like a real friend. I appreciate that."

"So you're saying you're glad we're friends?"

"Yes," she nodded, glad that her blathering wasn't distracting him from the point.

"In that case I am too," he agreed. "I should get to the showers before their taken. I'll see you at breakfast, Commander."

She smiled and nodded, turning to head back to her room.

Kaidan walked slowly back to his bunk and grabbed his shower gear without thinking. His body walked him into the men's bathroom and into one of the three shower stalls. He was on autopilot, his mind was actively engaged in thinking about Shepard.

Or how to keep from acting like an idiot in front of her.

He wanted to be her friend, at the very least.

Even though he had physically cringed when she'd called him that.

He would be her friend and help her with whatever they encountered on this mission. That was the safest play. Being a friend didn't violate any regulations and didn't jeopardize anything. He would be her friend.

Breakfast came and went and everyone was back to their duties. Shepard wandered around and checked with the rest of the crew. She was surprised to learn that there were so few people actually working on the ship. They had a crew of less than fifty now. Apparently after Anderson had stepped down their numbers had dropped to 49. Although she supposed with the addition of Wrex, Tali, and Garrus they were up to 52.

She was hoping she would be able to learn everyone's names. She always respected CO's who knew everyone by name.

After a while she returned to her quarters. She knew she had a mountain of paperwork she had to tackle.

And she was right.

She had over four hundred pages of forms and lists she had to go over and sign, just for the Council. Then another huge stack for C-Sec about being a Spectre operating on the Citadel. And then a larger stack for the Alliance. Apparently taking over a brand new, state of the art ship meant a huge amount of paperwork.

Lunch had come and gone by the time she'd finished.

She sent the last packet of forms off to the Alliance and stood. Her back creaked in protest as she stretched. She felt like she'd been sitting all day.

" _Commander_?" Joker's voice rang out through the ships intercom.

"Yeah?"

" _Coming up on the relay. Do we have a destination yet_?"

"I'm on my way up right now," she told him, moving to the door. "I'll check out the galaxy map and let you know."

Through her door and up to the CIC.

She walked up the ramp and opened the controls for the map. The spinning image of the Milky Way enlarged until it seemed to fill the room. She circled around slowly, taking in the sight of it. The way the holographic interface worked was you had to be standing on the same level as the platform to see the map. With the interface spaced out this way, captains got a much more comprehensive look at the systems they were in.

And it was cool.

They would come out of the relay in the Spartan system. There was a few habitable planets there and a few that were being mined for resources. Nothing here looked promising. But if she was studying Prothean ruins she could be anywhere.

"Joker do we have any leads on Prothean tech in this system?" She asked.

" _Hold on, checking now._ _No nothing here, but the ships VI is picking up something in the next system over. In Knossos._ "

She slid the map over and enlarged the other system. There were five planets and two asteroid belts. One of them, Therum, she'd heard of before. There was something a few months back about ruins or maybe minerals being discovered there. She couldn't be sure which, but it was the best lead they had.

"Joker take us to Knossos, to Therum."

" _Can do, Commander. ETA two hours_."

"Let me know when we're on approach."

" _Yes, ma'am_."

Shepard closed the map and turned to find several crewmen watching her. Garrus was there too, watching her closely.

"Any luck?" He asked as though he hadn't heard her exchange with Joker.

"Hopefully in two hours we'll be having a conversation with Dr. T'Soni," she sighed a she headed back down to deck two. There was still paperwork calling her name, not to mention she needed to update her mission report.

Garrus fell into step beside her. "What if this Dr. T'Soni doesn't want to talk?"

Shepard pondered that for a moment. "Well the hope is she's willing to help us, or at least talk to us. We need information about her mother and Saren's plans. Information she might have."

"And if she's on their side?"

Shepard faltered on the last step. " _If_ she knows anything and _if_ she's not willing to talk," she emphasized, "then we'll have to employ alternate means of getting her help."

"Meaning?" He pressed. She'd made such a big deal about doing the right thing and ensuring people didn't get hurt; he wanted to know what lengths she was willing to go to.

"Garrus," she sighed frustrated as they walked onto the elevator. "I will talk to her and try to show her reason. If that fails, if she can't be reasoned with, then we'll take her into custody and hand her over to the authorities."

"Shepard," he started to protest. "As a Spectre you don't have to answer to anyone. We could bring her aboard and . . ."

"Garrus," she cut him off. "Why don't wait and see what the situation is like when we get there? Then we can decide the best course of action."

He looked like he wanted to say more, but he nodded instead. "That might be best."

She smiled, pleased to be able to avoid the conversation, even if only for a few hours. Garrus leaned forward and pushed the button on wall. The elevator started its slow decent into the cargo hold. Shepard realized, suddenly, that she hadn't meant to come down this far.

"Damn it," she sighed.

"What's wrong?" He asked, alarmed.

"I didn't mean to come down here," she explained with a laugh. "Now I have to ride this thing all the way back up."

Garrus chuckled. "We might be there by the time you get back up."

"Well then I'd have to come back down!" They shared a laugh as the elevator finally reached the bottom. The door slid open and he stepped out, still chuckling at Shepard's misfortune.

"Commander, Garrus," Ash greeted each of them as she stepped onto the elevator.

"Chief," Garrus nodded as he headed towards the Mako again. He looked at Shepard and gave her a nod, still chuckling lightly as he headed away.

She sighed and shook her head.

"So," Ash said once the door closed.

"So?" Shepard questioned, hearing how loaded the chief's words were.

"I heard a crazy rumor at breakfast," she smiled at the Commander knowingly. "About you and the LT, this morning, outside your room, somebody was shirtless I believe?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about Chief," she replied, looking at the celling of the elevator, wishing she could use her biotics to make it go faster.

"If you say so," she laughed. "Any idea what we're going to be walking into down there?" Her voice and manner changed instantly.

"I'm not sure," she replied honestly. "Best guess? Geth, and lots of them."

"Good," Ash replied, cracking her knuckles. She didn't say anymore, and she didn't need to. Shepard knew what killing the geth meant for her now.

Shepard checked the clock on her omnitool. "Assemble the team in the briefing room on one, I want to run down what we know before we touch down."

"Yes, ma'am," Ash replied with a salute. The door opened and second later and each woman went in their own direction. The Chief rushed and grabbed Kaidan, explaining the situation, together they headed back toward the elevator, getting ready to round up the rest of the team.

Shepard headed back to her cabin and grabbed the datapad she'd been using to record everything she knew about Saren, Benezia, the geth, and the Reapers. It wasn't much, but it made her feel better to have a definitive list of what they had.

A few minutes later the six were assembled in the briefing room on the first deck. The room had eight chairs in a simi circle against the wall. Shepard wasn't sure if they had done it on purpose or not, but they had segregated themselves; humans on one side, non-humans on the other.

"In less than an hour," the Commander started. "We'll be landing on the planet Therum. Before we do that I want to sit down and go over what we know about our enemy. I know we don't know much right now, but better to go in fully informed."

There was a general murmur of agreement around the room.

"Do we even know anything?" Wrex asked. "Of value I mean?"

"We know that Saren's crazy, and he's somehow controlling the geth," Garrus offered.

"Which should be impossible," Tali chimed in. "The geth are capable of rewriting their code if anyone or anything attempts to control them. We've been able to momentarily hack them with override codes. But it doesn't last."

"So does that mean the geth are willingly following Saren?" Kaidan asked.

"It's the only possible explanation," she assured them.

"So we're saying," Ash questioned, "that this Spectre somehow convinced the geth to follow him?"

"That's a terrifying assessment," Shepard contemplated out loud.

There was a long silence as no one knew what to say to such implications. They knew Saren was dangerous. But if he had convinced an entire army of geth to follow him, that made him beyond terrifying.

"So what do we do?" Kaidan asked after a long moment.

"The only thing we can," the Commander explained. "We keep our guard up, train, and make sure when we come face to face with that bastard, we're ready."

"Making our final approach," Joker said over his shoulder to Shepard. She'd finished briefing the team and had headed up to watch the approach of the planet.

"Alright, take us in," She turned and headed for the CIC.

"Uh, Commander?" Joker called after her.

"What is it?" She turned.

"I'm getting strange readings all over the potential dig site. I'm gonna have to drop you a few klicks away."

"Drop me?" She asked confused.

"Yea in the Mako," he explained. "I can't get a set reading on anything down there. There's no way for me to land."

"A drop in the Mako?" Shepard repeated, images of her last mission in a Mako flashed in her head.

"You ok Commander?"

"Yeah," she replied, her mind still elsewhere, "I'll get the team."

"The whole team?" He called again.

"Yes," she replied with a sigh. "Is that a problem?"

"Might get a little cramped it all," Joker muttered turning back to the console. "I'll let you know when we're approaching the drop site."

"Thank you, Joker," she called as she kept walking.

Down and into the elevator, and out into the cargo hold. Everyone was there, geared up and ready to go. She checked her own gear, including her lucky pistol, and loaded everyone into the Mako. She was surprised to see that they had extended the hold in this model. The version she'd trained in would only hold three people, and not comfortably.

She climbed in and headed for the driver's seat.

Garrus was already seated in the passenger seat, he flicked switches and pressed buttons as he initiated the startup sequence. She sat down and strapped herself in.

" _Thirty seconds to drop, Commander_ ," Joker's voice called through the comm.

"Everybody ready?" She called over her shoulder. Most everyone nodded, Wrex grunted, looking tightly contained in his restraints.

"Shepard," Garrus asked when she turned around. "I need to ask you a question before we drop."

"Shoot," she called over the sound of the cargo bay doors opening.

"Earlier, when you talked about lighting one of these things on fires, you were joking right?"

She laughed. Reaching over she patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sure these ones are much sturdier."

Looking shocked, he gripped the straps of his harness tighter as Shepard lifted the vehicle off the floor and, using the thrusters, flew it toward the open bay door. The controls were pretty much the same as what she had been trained on only now the reaction time was quicker.

That was good.

She didn't want history to repeat itself.

With the careful maneuvering, and a very accurate drop on Joker's part, the Mako touched down on the planet's surface.

The sky was blue, not the same shade as the sky on earth, but similar. The ground was a red brown and just ahead she could see a pool a magma. Checking the sensors she ascertained there was no heat advisory for the planet and the air was breathable.

There was a series of tubes that ran along the right side of a hill they were near. Hoping that following the pipes would lead her to the settlement, they set out.

" _Commander, I'm picking up some strange readings,"_ Joker said through the comm. _"Really strange. Like off the damn charts. It looks like it's coming from and underground complex a few klicks away from the drop zone._ "

"What can you tell me about the complex?" She asked.

" _It's a complex and it's underground._ " He replied sarcastically.

"Joker."

" _Honestly Commander, that's all we've got. Whatever is giving off these readings it's throwing us some major interference._ "

"All right," she sighed, not liking the way the mission was shaping up already. "Keep the comms open and keep scanning the complex. If you learn anything else let us know."

" _Yes, ma'am_."

"Doesn't exactly bode well for the start of a mission," Wrex grunted from his seat.

"Well it can't be worse than our last mission," Kaidan joked.

"Let's hope," Shepard muttered. She steered the Mako around a large pool of magma and up a small hill.

The radar pinged.

"Commander," Garrus cautioned. "I've got something big coming in, just overhead."

"What is it?"

"Geth drop ship!" Tali shouted as her omnitool pinged.

A second later a large purple ship, closely resembling a huge flying cockroach, flew closely overhead. It hovered several yards ahead of them and dropped two objects, closely the size of the Mako, and took off over the next rise of the hill.

"What is that?" Garrus asked.

"It's an Armature," Tali informed them gravely. "They have plasma cannons and a minigun."

It looked like an odd four legged creature with the head of a geth. A second later it raised itself up and fired at them.

A white hot bolt of plasma came racing toward them.

"Hang on!" Shepard shouted as she banked the Mako hard to the left. It skimmed the right side and there was a large explosion. Smoke filled the Mako.

"Tali!" Shepard shouted over her shoulder as she brought them back around. "Get on that fire, see if you can put it out."

"Got it!" She called, bringing her tool up. She rushed over to the right side and set in on repairs.

"Ash, I need you on that gun," Shepard called, "Kaidan, Wrex, I need you two to use your biotics and put a barrier up around us. Garrus, get ready to use the thrusters when I say." Ash climbed up into the clear dome that housed the only gun on the Mako. She immediately opened fire on the geth.

Kaidan and Wrex each took side and started to project their barriers outside the hull. A few seconds later Tali got the fire under control and managed to clear the smoke. Shepard could see on the console between her and Garrus that Tali was repairing the ship, and quickly.

She swung them back around and started charging the Armatures head on.

"Shepard?" Garrus asked nervously.

"Just hold on," she cautioned.

They got closer.

Ash continued to fire on them, the geth before them went down, not before firing off another shot.

"Shepard," Garrus said again, his hand hovering over the controls for the thrusters.

"Not yet," she warned.

"Shepard!" He shouted. The bolt was directly in front of them.

"NOW!" She shouted.

Garrus hit the thrusters and the Mako jumped up and glided over the bolt. They hit the ground roughly and bounced. Tali was thrown into Kaidan and both toppled to the floor. It was like the geth could suddenly sense the left side was weaker.

It fired on them before the thrusters had chance to recharge. Shepard didn't have a chance to turn the Mako to the still shielded side in time. The bolt hit them, square on Shepard's side. The consoles on her left exploded, throwing sharp, hot shrapnel at her.

Most glanced off her armor, some found the chinks and others found her face. The Commander cried out in pain but managed to keep both hands on the wheel.

"Shepard!" Kaidan called out, back on his feet.

"I'm fine," she lied, wiping the blood from her face before it could reach her eye. "Get back on that barrier."

Kaidan looked like he might argue for a moment. Nodding he turned back to the left side and got the barrier going again. Another shot rang out and the last geth went down.

"Good shooting Ash," Shepard called weakly over her shoulder. She wasn't bleeding a lot, but she was definitely bleeding.

"Shepard," Garrus said, making a strange face. She couldn't say exactly what face he was making since turians had such strange faces to begin with. "We need to stop for a minute."

"I'm fine," she told him.

"Not for that," he knew how proud she was and he knew that she wouldn't stop for her own sake. "The Mako is damaged and Tali and I can't repair it while it's in motion."

She grumbled something he couldn't hear, then she slowly pulled them over and rested the Mako in a large alcove along the wall of the cliff. She powered it down and all but collapsed against the wheel.

"Tali," Garrus called, "Give me a hand?"

"Of course," she replied, opening the hatch. Garrus could see the worried look on Kaidan's face. The best thing he could do was to move and let the man tend to Shepard. He didn't know enough to take care of what was wrong with her. He stood and quickly moved out to help Tali.

Wrex, seeing an opportunity to get out of the cramped vehicle, followed the others out. He wasn't tech savvy but if any other geth were around, he could be useful.

Kaidan stepped up and took Garrus empty seat.

"Shepard?" He asked tentatively.

"I'm fine," she lied sitting up.

"Let me help," he insisted.

"Kaidan . . ." she started.

"Jennifer," he countered.

She glared at him. She hated her name and didn't much care to hear him use it while they were on a mission. She was his commanding officer, he needed to treat her deference while they were on duty. Still, she was bleeding and couldn't tend to the wound herself. She needed help.

"Fine," she relented. With a slight smile Kaidan reached out and pulled her from the chair. He laid her on the bench seat along the still intact right side. He reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a container of medigel. He pulled a glob if it out and applied it to the biggest gash on her forehead.

He put one hand behind her head, and used the other to massage the gel in. At once the gel stopped the bleeding and began to seal the wound. Taking a bit more he rubbed it over the smaller cuts along her cheek and neck.

"I need to uh . . ." he glanced down at her chest. She was bleeding below the collar of her armor, he would have to loosen her armor to get to them. He might even have to remove some of it. His face flushed red at the thought.

Trying not to smile, she reached up and undid the top latch of her armor. With a shaking hand, Kaidan pulled her collar away from her neck and applied the rest of the medigel.

Ash climbed back up into the gun, thinking she could at least keep watch while the Lt and Commander had a "moment." She spun around, looking for anything, any sign of movement. She had killed the other geth and was looking forward to killing more.

"This may be beyond my powers of calibration," Garrus commented as he took in the damage.

"Yours, but not mine," Tali said with smile. She lowered herself down on the ground and carefully slid under the Mako. The damage here was the worst, she needed proper tools and some salvage parts. But she had some omnigel and that would help, for now. They would need to do a bit of maintenance when they got back to the Normandy, but the patch job would get them through this mission.

"Pass me the omnigel," she called to Garrus.

A second later his hand appeared with a container of gel. She took it and set to work. The gel seemed to adhere better than she would have hoped. Apparently military grade omnigel didn't fool around.

A few moments later she was done. The gel was spreading out and holding everything in place. All the lines had been reconnected and so long as they didn't take any more heavy fire directed at this side, they would be fine.

"All done," she said, popping up. "We just need to be careful with this side until we can get it back to the Normandy."

"Heh, a Tonka wouldn't have taken damage so easily," Wrex chuckled. "Let's get this show on the road already." He walked up and climbed back into the Mako.

"There," Kaidan said, his voice shaking slightly. "That should keep until Chakwas can take a look at you." He fastened the collar of her armor again and took a wobbly step back. The door opened and Wrex came back in, followed by Garrus and Tali.

"The Mako is as good as it's gonna get right now," Tali informed the crew. "We should get moving."

"Sounds good to me," Shepard agreed, getting to her feet. The medigel was working and she felt better already. Better and a bit . . . bouncy maybe? She wasn't sure. She was sure that she was ready to get back to the mission.

"Are you sure you're ready ma'am?" Ash asked with as much respect as she could muster.

"Yeah, I'm great. Strap in and lets do this."

An uneasy look passed between the crew as Shepard turned for the controls. Knowing better than to ask, they all returned to their stations as the Mako started forward again.


	7. Chapter 7

Liara ran.

The geth were closing in on her and she was out of options.

Around another corner and she skidded to a halt.

Three more geth and a krogan were coming up the walkway toward her.

Turing back she ran the other way. They had blocked off the only exit she could get to.

She ran down another long white hallway, desperately searching for a way out.

Another corner and she stopped, more geth.

She was trapped.

Trapped with nothing but her biotics to help her.

She doubled back and ran down another fork, hoping she could at least find somewhere to hide.

Up a set of stairs and she stopped.

She knew this room. It housed the security controls for the whole complex. If she could start them up maybe she could trap the geth and krogan in a different part of the building. Kneeling down she pulled the panel off and thanked the Goddess she knew enough about the Protheans to get the thing powered up again.

Leaving the panel off, she opened the controls.

Liara started closing down security barriers, one after another after another.

A sound to her right drew her attention away from the controls.

They were on the stairs.

She had to hurry.

Three more barriers until she could close the one in front of her.

They were almost there.

She had to finish.

The top of krogan's hump was visible, she had seconds only.

There!

She was done!

The white energy barrier came up just as they cleared the stairs.

Liara T'Soni, Dr. Liara T'Soni, turned to take her victory in.

Before she could even think about gloating or demanding answers, two pillars rose out of the floor. A second later they fired up and trapped her in a stasis field. She was lifted off the ground and her arms were pulled back.

She was completely immobilized.

With her arms pinned she couldn't even use her biotics.

She was utterly entombed, in an ancient Prothean ruin.

Surrounded by geth.

Now she was stuck wondering what would give first. Her life? Or the stasis field.

Essentially, would she starve to death, or be taken by her enemies.

Shepard drove on. Over a bridge of rock that had magma on either side.

As the Mako crossed over the end the radar pinged again. And again, and again and again . . .

"What the hell?" Garrus asked, shocked.

She brought them around another corner and stopped.

Four huge black turrets rose out of the ground in front of a large metal structure. From this distance it was impossible to know exactly what the structure was. But it almost looked like a garage door.

"Oh shit," she muttered as the radar pinged over a dozen smaller signatures behind the doors.

"Only a fool punches a nathak in the mouth," Wrex informed them, "We should sneak around and pull its tail."

Shepard and Garrus, in perfect unison, turned and stared at the krogan as he continued to look out the window.

"What?" Garrus asked.

"I think he means we should find a way to sneak around," Ash called from the gun dome. "And I agree."

"Right," Shepard sighed. "Hey this model produces its own mass effect field right?"

"Why?" Garrus asked, sounding alarmed.

"Casue we're going up," she announced as she turned the Mako toward the steep rock wall of the cliff. "Hold on!"

The crew had only a second to brace for the sudden shift of gravity. Shepard drove straight at the wall and Mako responded. It started up the rocks like nothing. Up it climbed as the crew dug their fingers into hard plastic seats.

She crested the top of the wall and the Mako started to come down. The radar pinged again. This time there was only one ping aside from the dozen or so smaller ones that were up ahead. She turned sharp to the left to avoid hitting some metal scaffolding and brought the vehicle around.

"Stations!" Shepard called as turret came into view.

Ash trained the gun forward, Garrus readied the thrusters, Kaidan and Wrex got the barrier up and Tali pulled up her omnitool. They were ready.

The sound of the gun going off drew the attention of the geth and they immediately returned fire. The Commander did what she could to keep from getting hit, but the small ravine they'd come down in didn't leave a lot of room for maneuvering.

"Garrus," she called as a rocket came right at them. She was stuck and needed to back the Mako up. The only problem was the damn thing had the turning radius of a dead varen.

He punched the thrusters and they soared up and over the rocket.

Ash launched a rocket of her own and the turret finally exploded.

"Good shot," Tali called up to her.

"Don't relax just yet," she hollered. "We've got a whole platoon of geth incoming!"

A second later they came into view.

Shepard drove on.

"How thick is the plaiting on this?" She called out, hoping someone would answer.

"Why?" Garrus asked, sounding terrified.

She plowed through the geth. Knocking a few over and crushing at least two under the wheels.

"SPIRTS!" Garrus shouted as the head of a geth was thrown up by the wheels and smacked into the windshield.

"Coming back around," she shouted as the geth opened fire on them. "Hold that barrier!"

"Working on it!" Wrex shouted back.

Ash blasted one of the rocket troopers with the cannon and kept the regular gun going. She cleared a few more out as the Mako came around to make another run at them. A few more went down.

A shot ripped through middle of the windshield and straight down the center of the Mako, narrowly avoiding Wrex and Tali.

"Damn it!" Shepard shouted. "Is everyone okay?"

"Fine," Tali responded, getting up off the floor.

"Takes more than a bullet to stop a krogan," Wrex replied.

Shepard pulled the Mako across the open area and stopped it at the sliding doors on the other end. "We're headed out," she said jumping.

"Out?" Tali asked.

"Mako can't take too much more. We'll take the rest out on foot." She kicked the hatch open and jumped out. She pulled her shot gun off her back and opened fire.

She heard the rest of the team climb out as she threw a warp field at the closest geth. It went down and Ash put a bullet in its flashlight face before it could get up again.

Wrex shouted something as he ran straight at a geth with a rocket launcher. He plowed over it and cocked it with the broad side of his shotgun. It fell to the ground and he fired off three shots to make sure it stayed down.

Garrus and Kaidan were on either side of her now, firing off shots and throwing biotic attacks. Tali pulled her omnitool out and managed to takeover a geth nearby. It turned and began to fire on its former allies.

It took down two other geth before Tali lost control and Ash put it down.

"Is that the last one?" Kaidan asked?

"Field's clear," Tali called looking at the radar on her omnitool.

"Good job," Shepard sighed, tucking her shotgun back on her back. There was an odd snapping sound as her hair came down around her.

"Damn."

"That's a lot of hair," Garrus remarked, as her blonde locks cascaded down her back and over her shoulders. It hung down to the top of her thigh until it was picked up by the hot breeze.

"What happened?" Ash asked.

"Hair tie snapped," the Commander grumbled. She flipped her hair forward and twisted it around. Then, looping it over her hand, she tied it in a knot at the top of her head.

Shepard looked up to see everyone staring at her.

"What?" She demanded.

"A lot of hair," Garrus repeated.

"Let's get going," she sighed as she headed back toward the Mako.

Kaidan watched as the Commanders hair came down again.

It was the second time he'd seen it, all of it.

Somehow he still found it hard to believe that she managed to get all that hair into a bun on the top of her head.

He watched her flip her head forward and saw the light from one of this systems suns hit the gold in her hair and make it almost sparkle.

He was staring.

Again.

He knew it wasn't going unnoticed because when he glanced away, Ash was staring at him very knowingly.

He looked down at his pistol and made sure it was still cooling properly before he reattached it to the mags on his hip. Avoiding the Chief's eyes, he turned for the Mako and stopped.

The Commander had flipped her hair forward and was doing something strange with it now. She was twisting it up on her head. It was a simple gesture but there was something almost mesmerizing in the way she did it.

"That's a lot of hair," he heard Garrus say.

Looking away he readjusted his belt and then climbed into the Mako after Shepard, well aware of the fact that Ash was chuckling quietly at them.

After they had opened the other set of doors and loaded everyone back in the vehicle they started moving again. Up past the doors they could see a giant pool of magma spreading out beyond their field of view. More pipes cropped up on the right side of the hill again.

Hopefully that meant they were headed in the right direction.

Radar pinged again as the made the slight right to follow the pipes.

"Damn," Garrus complained. "It looks like we have more armature's dropping in," he announced to the crew.

Without having to be told this time, the crew moved to positions. Ash opened fire and once and Garrus jumped the first plasma bolt that came at them, it skimmed the bottom of the barrier but Wrex and Kaidan held strong.

Shepard moved them around, following the path of what she assumed was a road. It was a roundabout way but the only other choice attempting to fly over the magma. She doubted the thrusters would last that long.

Ash took the first one down.

Up and around the Chief had already sighted the next geth.

Shepard banked hard to the right as another bolt from a geth they couldn't see raced past. Knowing the hull was weaker there, she took drastic measures to keep it together.

The Mako climbed up the side of the embankment.

Garrus slid out of his chair and into Shepard.

"Damn," she chuckled. "What are you turians made of?"

"Scales," he replied with a laugh as he hauled himself back into his seat. He strapped himself in with just enough time to jump them away from another bolt. They hit the ground hard and Ash took down the second geth.

"What is that?" Tali demanded as the rounded the corner. A huge bright light shone down on them for a moment.

A second later it was gone and the radar pinged again.

"More armatures," Ash confirmed from the gun seat.

"How many?" Shepard asked as Garrus bounced them over another bolt.

"At least two."

"Fantastic," she muttered a she took them up and around another hill. The two armatures appeared at the top and with a sharp left, she ran the first of the two over.

The Mako bounced painfully as they kicked the geth under the six tires.

There was an explosion on the left.

"We need to not do that again," Tali called from the back. "Not unless you want a new door where this paneling is supposed to be."

"Sorry," Shepard called back to her as she took another sharp turn to avoid running the other geth over.

A second later its head exploded as Ash put it down.

Shepard kept driving.

"We've got buildings," Garrus announced as they cleared another hill.

"And more geth," Tali added.

"How many?" Shepard asked.

"Wait!" Tali called.

Shepard slammed on the brakes and everyone lurched forward. Kaidan hit the back of her chair and grabbed a hold.

"What's going on?" Shepard demanded.

"This one is different," Tali said, coming up beside them. She had a display pulled up on her omnitool. "Look at this. Whatever kind of geth is over there, it's huge and not like anything we've ever seen before."

"How is that possible?" Wrex asked. "I thought you're people created them."

"They've had almost four hundred years to evolve," Tali replied defensively, "there's a lot we don't know."

"What can you tell me about it?" Shepard asked, not liking the way things were going.

"That it's really big," she replied uncertainly.

"How big, exactly?" Garrus asked.

"Looks bigger than the Mako," Kaidan answered for her looking at her display.

"Fantastic," the Commander muttered. "Options?"

"We can take it," Ash called. "What other choice do we have?"

"She makes a point," Garrus agreed.

Not liking the odds, Shepard nodded. "Positions then, and hold on tight."

Huge was an understatement.

It towered over the Mako.

Ash fired at it before it realized they were there.

Then it looked pissed.

It raised itself up and fired a bolt at them.

It had to be three times the size of the previous bolts.

"HOLD ON!" Shepard yelled. "Garrus!"

"Got it!" He shouted hitting the thrusters.

Shepard jerked the wheel hard to the left, away from more metal piping and the plasma.

The Mako rolled.

Kaidan, Wrex and Tali were tossed around as the mass effect fields kicked in and righted the vehicle. Shepard had no time to make sure they were okay as the geth fired at them again. She brought the Mako around and back into Ash's line of fire.

She ripped into it.

The commander tried to keep them in line to fire on it, but she could sense the barrier around them was weakening.

"Shepard," Kaidan's voice warned.

"I know, just hold on!" She called back to him.

"Not that easy!" Wrex complained.

"We need a better plan," Garrus advised.

"I have a plan," she assured them, pushing the pedal down further. "Focus the barrier on the front of the Mako."

"Why?" Tali asked, sounding alarmed.

"I'm gonna ram it!" She shouted, gunning the engine harder.

Kaidan and Wrex had just enough time to concentrate on the nose of the vehicle before they rammed it.

They hit hard.

The nose of the Mako crumbled in slightly as the barrier pushed back against them. The geth flew backwards into the large metal building behind it. Shepard didn't waste time, she gunned it in revers and put that damn synthetic bastard back in Ash's crosshairs.

She opened fire again and blew the things head off before it ever got the chance to get back up.

Shepard sighed and slumped in her seat, shifted the Mako in to park.

"Everyone okay back there?" She called.

"Good," Kaidan sighed, dropping into a chair nearby.

"I'm fine," Wrex said.

"All good," Tali stated.

"I'm good," Garrus told her, his voice sounding off slightly. "That was . . . bold."

"Yeah, you got a quad on you," Wrex laughed.

"Gross," Tali muttered.

"Okay, if we're good let's keep going. I'm done with this planet," Shepard sighed.

"Agreed," Ash called from the gun.

Shepard started the Mako back up and headed up the bizarre ramp before them.

Fifteen minutes later the Mako came to another stop.

"What's the problem," Wrex demanded, tired of being contained in such a small vehicle.

"The road's blocked," Garrus cursed. "We'll have to keep going on foot."

"Is there another option?" Ash asked, not wanting to step away from the large gun.

"Nope." Shepard sighed. She got to her feet and one by one the crew made their way out. "Double check your guns, make sure your medigel and omnigel packs are full. We move in five."

Shepard moved around the other side of the Mako and surveyed the block in the road. It wasn't natural. Someone or something had purposely piled the rocks at a narrow point in the road.

"What are you thinking ma'am?" Ash asked walking up.

"The rocks," she said simply.

"What about them?"

"They were placed," Garrus answered walking around to stand on Shepard's other side. "The formation isn't natural."

"Exactly," she agreed.

"So, are we thinking ambush?" Ash asked with a hint of rage in her voice.

"That's how I would do it," Wrex informed them as he too came to stare at the rocks. "That opening is just wide enough to pass it on foot, one at a time."

"Wouldn't matter how many men you had," Garrus agreed. "That opening would bottle neck them."

"Right into the line of fire," Ash confirmed.

"Commander?" Tali called coming around the other side with Kaidan on her heels.

"What's wrong?"

"Radar's down," she said, lifting her omnitool display.

The circular display was usually blank with two lines leading off at an angle showing what was in direct line of sight and then a small notch that could be programed to reflect any waypoint the user designated.

Tail's display was all red with random signals drifting in and out of it and the word 'JAMMED' flashing in the center.

Shepard pulled her own radar up to see that it too was jammed.

"So we're flying blind?" Ash asked.

"Looks that way," the Commander agreed.

Wrex laughed, sounding excited. "Can't wait," he said punching his fists together.

"Alright, I'm in first then Kaidan, Tali, Ash and Wrex I need you to bring up the rear. Keep your eyes up and your guns hot. We've got a lot of ground to cover and there's no room for mistakes. Move out."

Shepard pulled her pistol out and brought her barrier up. They fell into line and she stepped thought the small gap in the rocks. Once on the other side the area immediately opened up with only a few sparse rocks here and there. After about fifty feet the path turned up and to the left and she lost her line of sight.

As they moved forward she was surprised to see that there was no ambush.

"I don't know what I find more unsettling," Kaidan whispered behind her. "The fact that we know there's geth out there somewhere, blocking our radar somehow, or the fact that the obvious trap isn't a trap at all."

"The silence is what get me," Shepard replied so quietly that he almost couldn't hear her. "Silence on the battlefield never bodes well." Images and memories from the blitz flashed in mind.

"Like the calm before the storm," he agreed.

"Area's clear," Ash announced as they moved past the only rock large enough to hide behind.

Shepard stopped as she approached the corner. She raised her fist and halted the team. Seeing her use hand signals, the group fell silent.

She turned and signaled for Tali.

Despite her suit, she was incredibly quite when she moved.

The Commander put her hand to her ear and pointed around the corner. Tali nodded and crept forward and pressed herself against the rocks of the wall and listened. After a second she came back and nodded.

She signaled Ash, Garrus, and Wrex across to the other side and the two small teams moved forward. The moved through a small pass way and the area opened up again. The ground began to slop upward at a steep angle.

There was too many rocks and too many placed to hide here.

Shepard didn't like it.

A second later they were set upon.

"Get to cover!" Shepard called as she, Kaidan, and Tali ran forward to the closest rock they could all fit behind.

Together the six took the geth down.

Snipers up on perches at the top of the hill made the battle exceptionally difficult.

Once the ground teams were dispatch, Garrus set his rifle on the rock he was crouched behind. In two precise shots, they were down.

Shepard signaled them to advance.

They cleared the top of the hill. Mining equipment could be seen now and with the snipers down it appeared the radar was working again.

They followed the path forward as it moved left and toward an out building and what looked like the entrance to the mines. They were almost there.

A strange noise echoed from somewhere behind the Commander.

"Shepard," Tail said quietly. "Radar's jammed again."

She nodded and switched back to hand signals. She split the team again. Three and three, this time it was her Tali and Garrus. Wrex, Kaidan, and Ash were a few paces behind on the left. Together they moved forward.

The ground sloped up gently, leading them to several out buildings, a cat walk and a steel ramp that lead up to the mine entrance. They crept forward slowly, sweeping the area as they went.

Just before they approached the cat walk they could hear a soft clicking sound followed by the sound of metal on metal.

A blur of white jumped down to the ground before them.

A geth, unlike any they had seen before raised its head and looked at them. A second later it jumped to the steal wall of one of the out buildings. A wall that was nearly twenty feet away. They raised their guns, ready to dispatch this bizarre geth when another sound stopped them.

A drop ship flew overhead and circled around just on the other side of the mine entrance. It hovered for a moment before it dropped nearly a dozen items and then took back to the sky.

It only took the dropped geth a second to stand and orientate themselves.

"Son of a bitch," Shepard muttered when she saw just how screwed they were.

Four geth with rocket launchers, four of the bizarre jumping geth, and another armature.

They were on foot.

With pistols and shotguns. Maybe an assault rifle or two.

"SCATTER!" She shouted as the armature sighted them.

They two groups ran for cover.

Shepard made a barrier big enough to cover them as they went.

The only real cover they could find was the steel wall of the out buildings.

All six took cover behind the wall and the few shipping containers they had there.

"They can't make it easy, can they?" Kaidan asked with a dry laugh.

"Wouldn't be as much fun!" Wrex shouted, taking one of the rocket troopers down.

"This is what you call fun?" Ash demanded, regarding the krogan like he was suddenly more insane.

"What else would it be?" He laughed again as one of the jumping geth stuck to the celling. He fired off a few shots but it was gone before they could hit. "Damn geth," he muttered. "Sit still so I can shoot you."

Tali managed to get control of one of the rocket troopers and it began to fire on the other geth. It took down another trooper and one of the jumping one before the armature took it out.

Shepard tossed a warp and tagged a rocket geth, not before it could fire a shot off at Garrus, who was looking down his scope in the other direction.

She ran and jumped in front of him, throwing up her barrier as she did.

The rocket hit the biotic wall, and exploded, throwing Garrus and Shepard back so hard they slid across the dirt until they hit the side of the mountain several feet away.

"Shepard!" Kaidan shouted, taking down another one of the jumping geth. He tried to run and check on her but the geth were making another push. He turned and fired again. There was no way for him to break away.

"Shepard?" Garrus asked alarmed. He got onto his knees and scrambled over to where she was laying. "Commander are you okay?"

"I'm alright," she grumbled, sitting up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he told her, helping the Commander to her feet. "That rocket would have killed me."

"Maybe." She picked up her gun and started moving forward. They were more than covered where they had fallen, but she needed to get back to her team.

"Shepard," he said putting a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you."

She stopped and looked up at him. His blue eyes were intense and he was clearly very passionate about what he was saying. She remembered then, something about turians and life debts being an immense deal for them. There was something about their code of honor that she couldn't remember.

"You're part of my team," she said, putting her hand on his.

He nodded.

Together they raised their guns and joined the rest of the team. There was one jumping geth let and the armature.

"Are you okay?" Kaidan asked when she jumped back behind cover next to him.

"I'm fine," she shouted as she through a warp field at the armature.

Kaidan reached forward and touched the side of her neck. "You're bleeding," he stated.

"I'm fine," she replied ignoring him.

Ash took a shot and the last jumping geth went down. Together the six focused in on the armature. The gun was so much worse outside the protection of the Mako. After a few direct shots the steel wall was starting to come down. In another minute or two they weren't going to have cover.

"We're not doing enough damage," Ash stated.

"Any other ideas?" Tali asked, peeking out and taking a shot.

"More bullets?" Wrex offered.

"I don't think that's the answer," Garrus said, trying and failing to shoot the geth in the flashlight.

"I'm open to suggestions," Kaidan shouted as the steel around them shook violently again.

"What if we threw a singularity in front of its face?" Shepard asked, thinking out loud.

"Why?" Tali asked?

"It would trap the plasma, at least for a short time. Then we could spread out and take it on from all sides."

"It won't work," Tali said. "The plasma travels to fast to be stopped by the singularity's pull. But if we could get a precise explosion on the light part of its face, that would be enough to bring it down."

"Garrus, Ash," Shepard said as the steel wall went down. "Aim for its face, we'll do the rest. Wrex, Kaidan with me, we need a barrier! Tali, help them with the shot." She, Wrex, and Kaidan spread out making a biotic wall to protect Ash, Garrus and Tali.

"Ok," Tali called as the armature unleased a furry of bullets on them. "Its processor is right behind the left side of the light. Top left side!"

Garrus and Ash sighted the target and in a blinding explosion, it went down.

"Yes!" Tali shouted. There was a general cry of joy as the smoking remnants of the armature sank into the ground.

"I hope this damn asari is worth all this," Wrex grunted as he stuck his shotgun back on his mags.

"Let's all hope that," Shepard sighed. "Is everyone okay? Any injuries?" There was a quick moment where everyone checked themselves over.

"I think you're the only one who got injured, ma'am," Ash said with a nod to the Commander's bleeding neck.

"I'm fine," she replied quickly. "Come on, the radar is working again and the entrance is right over here." She reached up and wiped some sweat from her brow.

"Fifty degrees hotter and I might start to feel uncomfortable," Wrex laughed, watching all the humans sweat. "How are you mammals doing, Shepard?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, "Let's go," she muttered again. She headed up the ramp, hearing the sounds of the others fall in behind her. At the entrance there was small green keypad. Praying there wasn't a code to get it, she pressed the button.

The large metal door hissed open and they descended into the mines.


	8. Chapter 8

"How is it hotter in here?" Ash demanded as they closed the metal door behind them.

"You're in a giant metal tube," Wrex replied, heading down the walkway. "Probably surrounded by magma on all sides."

"That's comforting," Shepard muttered. "All right the tube is too narrow for a full approach, we go down, two by two. Wrex with me, then Garrus and Tali with Kaidan and Ash bringing up the rear. Make sure those geth don't try to sneak up behind us."

The group gave a collective nod and fell into formation.

"Putting the krogan first, hu?" He asked. "Cause I make the widest target?"

"Not at all," she laughed. "I put your first because I know that if they come up close my barrier will stop their bullets and your shotgun will stop them."

Wrex laughed and slapped her on the back. She nearly buckled.

Straightening back up, she raised her gun and motioned the team on.

The tube like structure they were in slopped down at a nearly forty-five degree angle, making speed the enemy. At the end of the tube she could see a metal catwalk and through the grate she could see rocks and a dirt wall a few feet away.

Before they could reach the end of the tube she stopped them. Shepard glanced to Wrex and mouthed 'footsteps'. He nodded and raised his gun, she pulled a barrier up and started them forward. A second later a geth, all white, burst from around the corner and opened fire on them.

Its bullets hit the barrier and stopped them dead.

Wrex opened fire and it dropped. Shepard plugged it in the head and moved forward.

Another geth on the level below them opened fire.

She pressed herself against the wall and kept moving. Wrex stepped forward and fired off a few shots before his shotgun started to overheat. The rest of the team filed out behind them. Ash stepped up when Wrex moved back, taking out the geth below.

The Commander brought up her radar to find it blocked it again.

"Damn it," she cursed. "Flying blind," she called over shoulder advancing down the metal catwalk. It took them behind a rock wall and then wound down.

Three more geth were making their way up the ramp toward them.

Shepard threw a warp field at one and it went down. Garrus came up behind her and took another one down. Tali got control of the last. It turned and immediately started firing down the opening it had come from.

Another geth took the hacked one down and Kaidan took it down as it opened up on them.

They took the rest of the catwalk at a jog. It lead them down and around to the right before it opened up. They were in a huge underground cavern. There was some kind of strange blue barrier several yards ahead of them and an empty elevator on the left.

"All clear," Kaidan announced.

Shepard lowered her gun and walked to the edge of the catwalk.

"That's a long way down," she stated.

Ash came up behind her. "I dare you to spit over the edge," she joked with a smile on her face.

"You seem to be in better sprits," Shepard observed.

"What can I say?" She laughed, "Killing geth makes me happy."

"Good to know," she checked her gun and the heat level. "Alright, Kaidan and Tali with me, we're gonna check out that barrier. The rest of you stay here and guard the exit. We'll be back."

The three moved forward, Shepard at the point, Tali on her right and Kaidan on her left.

"That's not like any barrier I've ever seen," Kaidan commented as he reached forward and put his hand on it. "It's cold to the touch."

"Tali can you tell me anything about this?" Shepard asked.

She pulled up her omnitool and started scanning it.

"I can't get any readings," she sighed. "It looks impenetrable to me and it seems to be running from a power source several yards below us."

"Down it is, then," she sighed. "Let's head back."

"Any luck?" Garrus asked as they walked up.

"No way through from over here," Shepard informed them. "We go down."

"All of us?" Ash asked eyeing Wrex. "Don't suppose there's a weight limit on this thing do you?"

"Are you calling me fat?!" Wrex asked with mock indignation.

"Of . . . course not . . ." she stammered.

"Come on," Shepard laughed. "Let's get going."

They packed onto the elevator and the commander hit the switch. There was no way to select floors. You just hit the button and went.

She wasn't sure what they were doing down here, but the elevator dropped down eight levels by her count. Each level had a large oblong opening the like one up top, only these weren't covered by a barrier. There also wasn't any path leading to them.

The carriage slowed and stopped. A second later the door swooshed open and the spread out onto the catwalk. Shepard exited last, gun and eyes up, sweeping side to side.

She moved to follow the walk way left.

Her radar pinged a second before six geth drones swooped up from the floor below. Without having to be told, each member of the group sighted the drone closest to them and in a second they were dispatched.

"Gonna be more where they came from," Garrus remarked hazarding a glance over the edge. "We've got a few more levels before bottom."

"Down again?" Tali asked.

"Yeah, there's another elevator over here," Shepard said as she led her crew forward.

There was another oblong shaped opening that didn't seem to lead anywhere. It was just an oddly shaped hole in the wall.

"Sterile white," Wrex grumbled. "Protheans sure build things homey."

"Not up to your decorating snuff?" Garrus asked him as they shuffled on to the next elevator.

"Maybe it needs more radioactive rubble," Tali offered.

"Shut up," Wrex grumbled as he hit the button. The doors slid close and the elevator began to descend.

"Is all of Tuchanka radioactive?" Shepard asked.

"Most of it," Wrex replied shortly. "Do we have a direction other than down?" He was clearly done talking about his home.

"Once we get to the bottom . . ." The elevator jerked suddenly and sparks began to fly from the sides. There was the screech of metal against metal and the carriage dropped. They fell three levels before the emergency brakes kicked in and the skidded to a halt.

The Commander fell against the door and the old metal gave way, falling to the ground.

Kaidan reached out and grabbed Shepard by the wrist, pulling her back from the edge and possible death.

She grabbed his arm and held on until the elevator finally stopped.

"Thanks," she sighed, smiling at him.

His cheeks flushed a bright red and he nodded, letting go of her.

"What happened?" Ash asked, poking her head out of the side and looking up.

"Didn't feel like elevator just gave out," Garrus offered.

"I think someone blew the tracks," Tali said, "Intentionally, to stop us."

"Then we must be getting close," Shepard confirmed. "It's only about a story and half, we can jump it." She readied a barrier in her palm, just in case, and jumped. She hit the metal with a thud and raised her gun, scanning the area around. Sher heard the other's land beside her.

"Looks clear," Garrus said lowering his rifle. "What happened down here?"

Shepard walked forward, the catwalks and metal walkways were in shambles. She could just see the blue light of another barrier below them.

"This way," she said finding an opening big enough to drop down. She jumped down on to a hunk of the metal walkway and stopped.

"Uh . . . hello?" A distorted voice called from somewhere unseen. "Could somebody help me? Please?"

She motioned for Kaidan and Garrus to follow and kept Wrex, Tali and Ash lying in wait. Shepard didn't know who or what was down there, but she wasn't going to take any chances.

She jumped down once more and walked down a shaking piece of metal.

What she saw beyond the blue barrier was a sight she didn't fully understand.

An asari, dressed in the garb of doctor was suspended in a bubble on the other side of the barrier. She put her gun away and walked up.

The asari's eyes lit up when she saw them. "Can you hear me out there?" She called, "I'm trapped. I need help!"

"Are you okay?" Shepard asked, "What happened to you?"

"I'm fine," she explained. "My name is Liar T'Soni and this thing that I'm in is a Prothean security device. I cannot move, so I need you to get me out of it. All right?" She sounded frantic and perhaps a bit crazy. Shepard couldn't be sure. At least now she know this was the asari she was looking for.

"How did you end up in there?" The Commander asked.

"I was exploring the ruins when the geth showed up," she explained. "So I hid in here. Can you believe that?! Geth! Beyond the Veil! I activated the tower's defenses. I knew the barrier curtains would keep them out."

She looked around for a moment. "When I turned it on, I must have hit something I wasn't supposed to. I was trapped in here. You must get me out, please."

Shepard glanced to Kaidan and then to Garrus. Knowing that the best way to get information is to ask, she took a step forward. "Your mother is working with Saren. Whose side are you on?" It was blunt, so much so that both Garrus and Kaidan looked to her.

"What?" Liara asked, shocked. "I am not on anybody's side! I may be Benezia's daughter, but I'm nothing like her! I have not spoken to her in years. Please, just get me out of here."

Shepard nodded, that was enough for her, for now anyway. "We just need to figure some way past this energy field."

"It's a Prothean barrier curtain," she corrected her. "I knew it would keep me safe from the geth. But I must have hit something I wasn't supposed to. You have to get me out of here! Please!"

"We'll find some way to help you," Shepard assured her.

"There is a control in here," Liara explained. "It should deactivate this thing. But you'll have to find some way past the curtain. That's the tricky part. The defenses cannot be shut off from the outside. I don't know how you'll get in here. But be careful. There is a krogan with the geth. They have been trying different ways to get past the barrier."

"We'll take care of it," Shepard said. "Just hold tight."

She headed back and gathered the others.

"Ideas?" She asked once they were brought up to speed.

"Go down?" Tali offered. "Find a way down to where the curtain doesn't stretch and then work our way up from the inside."

"That could work," Ash agreed.

*"Alright then," Shepard said, "Fan out and find a way to get under that curtain. Stay within line of sight of one another. Dr. T'Soni said there was krogan here too. If you find something, call out."

At once everyone took off in a different direction.

Except Wrex, he stayed back and waited for the others to clear out.

"Shepard," he called quietly.

She turned back to him, already knowing what he was going to ask her about. "I don't know any more other than there is a krogan running around with the geth."

"According to the asari," he stated, his distrust of her statement plain.

"I can't imagine why she would lie right now," the Commander countered.

"Maybe because she's working with her mother?"

She sighed, the thought had crossed her mind. "Look we get her out of that thing and then question her, okay? It doesn't do us any good to sit here and wonder."

"Fine," Wrex agreed begrudgingly. He took off down the metal walk way.

At once she could hear gun fire.

"Commander!" Ash called, "We've got hostiles."

Shepard rushed down the walkway and had to dive quickly to the side.

More geth were streaming toward them from somewhere near the back of the mine. A red laser dot danced on her arm for a second before a bullet hit her barrier and knocked her back.

Geth and they had snipers.

"How many?" Shepard called over the gun fire.

"Can't tell!" Kaidan shouted.

"Radar's jammed again!" Tali finished for him.

Gunfire rang out from both sides for well over five minutes.

Between the rocks and the roughly cut walls of the mines, there was too many places for the geth to dig in.

"Radar's back!" Tali called as the last geth hit the floor. "That's the last of them."

"Fantastic," she sighed. "Anybody hurt?"

There was a moment of silenced while everyone checked themselves over.

"I think we're all good Commander," Garrus assured her.

"Even better. Now let's get the doctor out of that bubble and get the hell out of here. I hate mines." The last part she said quietly and to herself.

"I think I've got a way," Wrex called from behind them.

"What is that?" Ash asked.

"A mining laser," he announced sounding almost excited. "This bad boy could cut through a three inch piece of steel like it was butter."

"So we blast a hole in the rock under the curtain," Shepard said with a nod. "I like it. Efficient. But what are the risks?"

Tali already had her omnitool out. She scanned the laser and then the rock wall directly in front of it. She typed a few things in shook her head. "If we use that laser we risk destabilizing the entire dig site."

"How bad?" Shepard asked.

"We could bring the whole place down, with us still inside."

"Does anyone see another way?" She asked.

"It's the only way," Wrex assured her. "I've operated one of these before."

"Then do it," she told him.

Wrex opened the controls and in a second he was past the lock. "Firing," he shouted almost joyful.

The laser blasted a whole the size of skycar in the ground. The mine around them shook for a moment and a few small rocks fell from the ceiling above them. After only a second the shaking stopped.

"See!" Wrex shouted! "Now let's get this damn asari and get outta here."

"Agreed. Eyes up people, fall in." Shepard checked the heat sink on her gun and moved forward, jumping down into the hole, Garrus was right behind her. They swept the immediate area and signaled the rest down.

They were standing in another of those oblong holes in the wall. As they moved on the area opened up to a short metal platform with some kind of control console at the end. Shepard moved out cautiously, testing the platform before she motioned the team forward.

Tali moved to the console and opened it up. Most alliance and alien controls she'd seen came in varying shades of orange and red. She had seen a few interfaces that were white as well. But this thing lit up green.

"Keelah," Tali sighed as she scanned it.

"What's wrong?" Shepard asked walking over.

"I've never seen anything like this," she whispered almost in awe. "I can't even detect what language it's in."

"Let me see." Tali stepped back and the Commander stepped forward.

She was right.

Shepard had never encountered language like this before.

For a second a word she knew flashed on the controls.

"What the . . ." she whispered, letting her words fall away. The longer she stared at it, the more she was certain she knew how to operate it.

"Commander?" She heard Kaidan call from behind her.

"It's a lift," she stated. "An elevator."

"How can you tell?" Tali asked.

Shepard reached out and pushed a button.

Immediately the lift began to rise.

She watched the wall, needing to make sure they didn't go past the floor with Dr. T'Soni. She was also actively ignoring the looks from her crew. She had no means to explain how she knew what she knew about the lift. Hopefully they would just be grateful they were moving and drop it.

As the lift cleared the next floor she stopped it.

They could see the back of the asari floating in the bubble.

"Let's go." She said moving forward.

At the sounds of their footsteps she turned her head.

"How . . . how did you get in here?" Liara asked, not sounding exactly thrilled to see them. "I didn't think there was any way past the barrier."

"We blasted through with a mining laser," she told her, not sure if she could trust the woman yet.

"Of course. Yes," she babbled. "That makes sense. Please get me out of here before more geth arrive. The button over there should shut down this containment field."

She turned to find several eyes on her.

Ignoring their questioning gazes, she opened the control panel to the left and pushed the button she was sure would drop the field.

Liara grunted as she dropped to the floor. Shepard prepared herself for the worst as the asari turned to face them.

"Any idea how we get out of this place?" Garrus asked.

"There is an elevator back in the center of the tower. At least, I think it's an elevator. It should take us out of here. Come on!"

She took off at a brisk pace, stepping around the group and headed back the way they'd come. Everyone looked back to the commander.

"Are you sure about this?" Kaidan asked under his breath. He'd taken a few steps closer to her so they could talk without Dr. T'Soni hearing.

"No," she replied honestly, "But what other choice to do we have? Those geth will be back and I don't know another way out of here. Do you?"

Everyone turned their eyes away.

"Yea I didn't think so. Let's go," Shepard moved past them and quickly caught up with Liara. The rest of the crew fell into step behind her. The asari stopped at the control Shepard had used earlier. She fiddled around with a few buttons for a moment and stopped when they could hear hydraulics hiss.

The large cylinder the other elevator had come up around was in fact, another elevator. The metal sheeting slid down revealing a large open area and another control area.

Liara started forward immediately and opened the other control panel. She looked up and waited until the rest of the team had joined her on the elevator.

Once she stated it moving she turned to Shepard.

"I . . ." she stammered. "I still cannot believe all this. Why would the geth come after me? Do you think Benezia's involved?"

"Saren's looking for the conduit," Ash said belittlingly, "Think fast Ms. Prothean expert."

"The conduit?" Liara asked, confused and hurt by Ash's tone. "But I don't know . . ."

The sound of explosions followed by banging and shaking dropped all conversation.

"What the hell was that?" Wrex demanded.

The sound continued as they spun slowly, trying to see where the damage was.

"These ruins are unstable," Liara explained. "That mining laser must have triggered a seismic event. We have to hurry. The whole place is caving in!"

Another crash and the elevator shook, knocking Tali to the ground and almost tossing Garrus off the edge. They needed to get out, now.

"Joker!" Shepard shouted over the sounds of cave in. Get the Normandy airborne and lock in on my signal. On the double mister!"

" _Aye, aye, Commander_ ," his voice came in over the comm. " _Secure and aweigh. ETA eight minutes_."

"Gonna be close, skipper," Ash warned.

"If I die in here, I'll kill him," Wrex grumbled.

"Nobody is dying in here," the Commander assured him. Another crash echoed up from below them sending dirt and debris into the air.

Finally they came to the top of the shaft.

The floor of the elevator extended out and sealed the room. Before they could pull their guns a krogan followed by three dozen geth came walking down from the only exit the Commander could see. She stepped forward and put herself between her team and the krogan.

With any luck he would listen to reason and they could settle this outside the collapsing mine.

Wrex stepped up, tense at the sight of one of his kind.

"That's a Battlemaster," he informed her under his breath. "Or at least he wears the armor of one."

"Bad?" She asked.

"If he bite matches his bark, it's about to get really interesting."

"Fantastic."

"Surrender," the Battlemaster shouted. "Or don't. That would be more fun."

"In case you didn't notice, this place is falling apart!" Shepard shouted at him.

"Exhilarating, isn't it," he laughed stepping forward. The geth fanned out on either side of them. She heard the crew pull weapons behind her.

"Thanks for getting rid of those energy fields for us. Hand the doctor over."

"Whatever it is you want," Liara shouted stepping up, "You're not getting it from me!"

"She'll stay with us, thanks," Shepard replied.

"Not an option," the Battlemaster informed her. "Saren wants her. And he always gets what he wants."

Liara looked to the Commander, uncertain if this human would be willing to risk her life to keep her safe. She didn't even know the woman's name.

Shepard stared the krogan down and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Kill them," the krogan barked to the geth. "Spare the asari if you can. If not, doesn't matter."

Shepard through a warp at the krogan who stumbled momentarily before running for cover. The team scattered, ducking behind some of the pillars and opening fire.

She ran over to Liara who was crouched down behind the control console. She pulled her barrier up so it surrounded them both. She took down two geth who were closing in on her. A third exploded behind her.

Looking up she saw Kaidan rush forward and join his barrier with hers. Together they took down several geth that were coming for the Dr. She smiled at him, thankful to have him looking out for her. She typically didn't need anyone to look out for her. It was different, but she liked it.

One by one the other geth went down.

"How many left?" Kaidan called. The barrier was starting to fade and they didn't know how much more it could take.

"Only a couple and the krogan," She told him.

Garrus cried out suddenly behind her.

He'd taken a hit and gone down.

"Garrus!" She shouted. "Kaidan keep her safe." She shot a geth coming at her as she made her way across the open area to her fallen squad mate.

He was lying on the ground and there was blue blood on the floor around him. She grabbed him under the arms and dragged him to the closest pillar.

"Are you okay?" She shouted over the gunfire.

"I'm fine, Shepard," he assured her. "It's a through and through to the arm. I'll live."

She pulled medigel from her pack and slathered it on his arm. He winced for a moment as the gel took effect but visibly relaxed as the painkillers kicked in. She pulled a small bandage from her belt and wrapped his arm.

The gun fire began to die down as only the krogan remained.

"Seriously, Shepard. I'm fine." He lied as he winced in pain again.

"Stuff it Vakarian," she ordered him as she tide the bandage off. "Now stay down."

Kaidan watched the Commander run off. He kept the barrier up and shot another two geth.

"Is she always so brave?" Liara asked him. She had gotten up slightly and was also watching the commander run.

"She is," he replied, somewhat nervous about the way the asari watched her. A shot hit the barrier and nearly didn't stop. Refocusing on the task at hand, he put another few geth down.

He glanced back at the Dr. She was watching Shepard wrap Garrus' arm. He didn't like it. At all.

Shepard came running back over.

"Are you two okay?"

"Fine," Liara replied, popping up.

"Good . . ." A ball of blue energy came flying at them and hit Shepard square in the chest. She crumpled to the floor.

"Shepard!" Kaidan yelled rushing over.

"It's a stasis field," Liara informed him as she crouched down beside her.

"Stay with her until she comes around," he shouted as he took off after the krogan. He was the only one left.

Wrex had him pinned now, firing off round after round from his shotgun.

Kaidan threw a warp and halted the Krogan's regenerative abilities.

Another two shots from Wrex and a few from Ash's rife, and the krogan went down.

Shepard felt the stasis fade and she was finally able to move.

"Let me help," Liara said grabbing the Commanders hand. She pulled her up and kept a hold of her arm until she knew Shepard was steady.

"Thanks," she told the Dr. "Are we all clear?"

"Clear, skipper," Ash called.

Another crash from somewhere around them and the elevator platform they were on shook violently.

"We have to go!" Shepard yelled.

They ran for the exit only to be halted by another barrier curtain.

Before the team could come to a full stop the dirt walls outside the barrier began to crumble. They curtain exploded out and away from them as the elevator crashed to the ground behind them.

Wasting no time Shepard pushed the team on.

They ran around crumbling walls and huge chunks of rock. The ground was shaking so bad now it was impossible to move as fast as she wanted to. The team was up the metal catwalks and moving past the first elevator they'd ridden in. A noise stopped the Commander.

She turned and saw the whole of the mine caving in behind them.

"MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" She shouted pushing them on.

They were at the metal tube.

Parts of it were being shaken off the walls. Most of the team was near the exit now.

Just a little further.

The ground under her feet shifted suddenly to the right, tossing her on the floor.

She scrambled to get back up, slipping on the dirt and rocks that were streaming down from the entrance.

A hand grabbed her under her arm and pulled her along the rest of the way.

As they ran out the main entrance the rest of the tunnel collapsed behind them.

Once the dirt was clear from her eyes she looked around.

Garrus was right next her, his hand still in the crook of her elbow. She was shocked. When someone had pulled her up she had assumed it was Kaidan. He was always running back for her. She opened her mouth to say something.

"Stuff it, Shepard," he said with a smile. He clapped her on her back and let her go.

The ground rumbled again as the mine continued to collapse around them. Magma spayed into the air too close for Shepard's comfort.

" _Commander you gotta double time it_ ," Joker called over the comm. " _The whole area is about to sink into the lava._ "

"You heard him!" She shouted, "Get back to the Mako!"

They ran again down the metal ramp as it collapsed underneath them. They hit the ground and kept running. Thankfully the fall wasn't bad enough to cause any harm. They kept going, even Wrex, who Shepard would have thought was not a fast runner, was hauling ass.

They tried to run down the hill but with the shaking they mostly slid.

Shepard hit the hill on her knees and slid all the way down, stopping only when she hit a large rock at the bottom. Her head spun for a moment but then she was up and moving again. She helped Tali to her feet and pushed her on and then made sure Ash was okay. She too had stopped only when she'd come face to face with a rock.

The Commander hauled her up pulled her on.

Her nose was bleeding pretty badly, staining the front of her white and pink armor.

She pushed Ash through the opening in the rocks and toward the Mako. There was another loud crash and the pool of magma that had previously been several feet away, sprayed up into the air. Shepard had just enough time to dive into the Mako before it rained down around them.

Kaidan pulled her in and Ash pulled the hatch closed.

"Are you alright?" He asked helping her to her feet.

"Fine," she called jumping into the driver's seat. "Joker get us out of here!"

" _Working on it Commander_ ," he called over the comm. " _Kinda hard when there's lava shooting at us!_ "

Shepard threw the Mako in reverse as the pool of magma began to seep toward them. "Hold on!" She shouted. The all the crashing and shaking had thrown the rocks of the canyon walls around. She couldn't back up anymore.

She shifted back into drive and gunned the engine.

"What are you doing?" Garrus demanded.

"Getting us the hell off this rock. Strap in, this is gonna be close."

"Commander . . ." he started to argue.

"Joker on my signal initiate the return sequence," she shouted. "Garrus, when I say, give the thrusters all we have. We're only gonna get one shot as this."

For a second he looked like he might argue. Instead he nodded and cranked the thrusters to max power and put his hand over the button.

" _Ready Commander_."

The magma was inches from the front wheels of the Mako, it was now or never.

"NOW!" She shouted.

Garrus hit the button for the thrusters and held it down. The Mako soared up and over the spreading liquid rock and for a few seconds they flew.

Then they started to come down.

A terrible fear spread through the cabin like wild fire through the dry brush.

She'd miscalculated.

There wasn't enough juice left in the thrusters to get them up high enough for Joker to lock on to them. She had messed up and that mistake would cost them all their lives.


	9. Chapter 9

A second later she felt the magnetic traction from the Normandy lock onto the Mako and they once again began to rise. Up and away from the magma and the certain doom it held for them.

Shepard sighed and leaned back in her seat.

" _We've gottcha, Commander_ ," Joker announced.

"Good catch Joker," she sighed. "Get us outta here."

" _Roger that, Shepard._ "

"Everyone okay back there?" She called glancing over her shoulder.

"I think so," Tali replied checking her suite over.

"I'm good Skipper," Ash called.

"I think I'm okay too," Liara called from behind Garrus. "Where exactly are we going? And who are all of you?"

"My name is Commander Shepard from the Systems Alliance Navy, and now I suppose the Citadel Council. And the commander of the Alliance vessel the Normandy."

"The Council?" She asked.

"Shepard's the first human Spectre," Garrus informed the doctor, a noticeable hint of pride in his voice.

"A human Spectre?" She asked.

"Yeah. And this is my team, Garrus Vakarian formally of C-Sec, Urdnot Wrex, Tali'Zora Nar'Ryya, Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, and Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams."

"All of you?" She asked. "On the same crew? On an Alliance ship?"

"Are mission transcends any predisposed notions of "crew,"" Shepard said, pleased she had worked that line up beforehand.

The Mako, or what was left of it, landed in the docking bay. There was a sound of metal hitting the floor.

"Alright, you have five minutes, get yourself checked out, and meet me in the debriefing room on one," Shepard ordered. "Dr. T'Soni, if you'll follow me." She pushed the door to the Mako open, only to have it crash onto the ground.

"Fantastic," she muttered. "Come on, then."

Kaidan climbed out last. He had purposely waited in the Mako as long as he could. Dr. T'Soni was a beautiful asari. Not that he'd ever met an asari that wasn't. He had seen the look in her eyes as she watched the Commander run to Garrus. He recognized that look. He recognized it from his own face. She looked at Shepard the way _he_ looked at Shepard.

How could he compete with an asari?

"So tell me Commander, what do you know about my mother and this Saren she's thrown herself in with." Liara asked as they stepped onto the elevator.

"We don't know much," Shepard explained, not sure how much she could tell her. "Only that we've got a recording of her speaking with Saren."

"How did you manage to acquire that?" She asked shocked.

"From a geth's memory core."

"I still can't believe there are geth outside the Veil," she said quietly as the elevator made its slow climb.

"Hopefully not for long," she remarked with a sigh. Damn slow elevators.

When the door finally lifted and they got out the Commander paused. She wasn't sure what to do with the asari now. She had intended to change out of her armor before the debrief and she needed to compile a report for the Alliance and the Council.

"Up this way," she said at last, leading Liara up the steps.

"Is this a new ship?" The doctor asked as they headed past the door and the guard there.

"Brand new," she replied.

They stopped at the door for the command room. Shepard punched in her code and stood back to let the other woman in.

"So if you don't mind having a seat here, I just need to send a report away," she motioned toward the seats. Liara nodded and took a seat on the right wall. Shepard turned to the back and opened up a blank Council report.

A few minutes later the rest of the team had come up and was waiting patiently as Shepard finished her report for the Council.

"All right Joker," she said at last. "That's the last of it, link us into a comm buoy and send them out."

" _Aye, aye_ ," he said in a very annoyed way.

"Joker?" She asked.

" _What_?"

"What's wrong?"

" _That was too close, Commander,_ " he complained. _"Ten more seconds and we would've been swimming in molten Sulphur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference._ "

"We almost died out there," Liara said sounding shocked or possibly even angry. "And your pilot is making jokes?"

"Joker pulled our asses out of there," Shepard said, not the least bit defensive. "I think he's earned the right to a few bad jokes."

"I see," she replied quietly. "It must be a human thing. I don't have a lot of experience dealing with your species, Commander. But I am grateful to you. You saved my life back there. And not just from the volcano. Those geth would have killed me. Or dragged me off to Saren."

"What did Saren want with you?" Kaidan asked. "Do you know something about the Conduit?"

She shook her head. "Only that it was somehow connected to the Prothean extinction. That is my real area of expertise. I have spent the past fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them."

Shepard faltered. "Just how old are you?"

"I hate to admit it," she replied sheepishly. "But I'm only a hundred and six."

"Damn!" Ash said with a laugh. "I hope I look that good when I'm your age."

Liara smiled tightly, "A century may seem like a long time to a short-lived species like yours. But among the asari, I'm barely considered more than a child. That is why my research has not received the attention it deserves. Because of my youth, other asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories on what happened to the Protheans."

Shepard sighed, "I've got my own theory about why the Protheans disappeared."

"With all due respect, Commander," Liara said in a way that sounded condescending. "I have heard every theory out there. The problem is finding evidence to support them. The Protheans left remarkably little behind. It is almost as if someone did not want the mystery solved. It's like someone came along after the Protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues.

"But here is the incredible part. According to my findings, the Protheans were not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish. This cycle began long before them."

"Where did you come up with this theory?" Shepard asked. "I thought there wasn't any evidence?"

"I have been working on this for fifty years," she explained. "I have tracked down every scrap and shred of evidence. Eventually, subtle patterns start to emerge. Patterns that hint at the truth. It is difficult to explain to someone else. I cannot point to one specific thing to prove my case. It is more a feeling derived from a half-century of dedicated research.

"But I know I'm right. And eventually, I will be able to prove it. There were other civilizations before the Protheans. This cycle has repeated itself many times over."

"So," Shepard started, trying to understand. "If the Protheans weren't the first, then who was?"

Liara looked down, this was the question that always came up. "I don't know," she replied honestly. "There is barely any evidence on the Protheans. Even less on those who came before them. I cannot prove my theory. But I know I'm right! The galaxy is built on a cycle of extinction. Each time a great civilization rises up, it is suddenly and violently cast down. Only ruins survive.

"The Protheans rose up from a single world until their empire spanned the entire galaxy. Yet even they climbed to the top on the remains of those who came before. Their greatest achievements - the mass relays and the Citadel – are based on the technology of those who came before them. And then, like all the other forgotten civilizations throughout galactic history, the Protheans disappeared. I have dedicated my life to figuring out why."

All eyes turned to Shepard. She met Kaidan's and nodded.

"They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines. The Reapers."

"The . . . The Reapers," she stammered. "But I have never heard of . . . How do you know this? What evidence do you have?"

"There was a damaged Prothean beacon on Eden Prime," she explained with a sigh. "It burned a vision into my brain. I'm still trying to sort out what it all means."

"Visions?" Liara asked quietly to herself. "Yes . . . that makes sense. The beacons were designed to transmit information directly into the mind of the user. Finding one that still works is extremely rare. No wonder the geth attacked Eden Prime. The chance to acquire a working beacon, even a badly damaged one, is worth almost any risk."

A few dozen thoughts raced through Liara's mind. "But the beacons were only programed to interact with Prothean physiology," she stated. "Whatever information you received would have been confused, unclear. I am amazed you were able to make sense of it at all. A lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed by the process. You must be remarkably strong-willed Commander."

She smiled at Shepard, a bright dazzling smile that everyone took notice of.

"This isn't helping us find Saren," Kaidan cut in suddenly. "Or the conduit."

"Of course," Liara said blushing and looking away. "You are right. I am sorry. My scientific curiosity got the better of me. Unfortunately, I do not have any information that could help you find the Conduit. Or Saren."

Shepard pondered this for a moment. "I don't know why Saren wanted you out of the picture. But I think we'll be a lot better off if we bring you along."

Liara smiled again with just the slightest bit of color on her cheeks. She stood and walked up so that she was only a few feet away from Shepard. "Thank you, Commander. Saren might come after me again. I cannot think of anywhere safer than here on your ship. And my knowledge of the Protheans might be useful later on."

"And her biotics will come in handy when the fighting starts," Wrex added.

"Good to have you on the team, Liara," Shepard said with a smile.

"Thank you, Commander. I am very gratef . . . whoa," she wobbled suddenly on her feet and nearly went down. Shepard put a hand on her shoulder to brace her. "I am afraid I am feeling a bit light-headed.

"When was the last time you ate?" Kaidan asked, "Or slept? Dr. Chakwas should take a look at you." He was trying to be thoughtful but he felt more like he was kicking her out of the room. Which, in fact, wasn't very far from the truth.

"It is probably mental exhaustion," Liara said, trying to explain it away. "Coupled with the shock of discovering the Protheans' true fate. I need some time to process all this."

Shepard look at her concerned.

"Still," she added. "It could not hurt to be examined by a medical professional. It will give me a chance to think things over. Are we finished here Commander?"

"We can talk again after you've seen the doctor," Shepard informed her. "The rest of you, dismissed."

The crew got up and headed for the door, talking quietly amongst themselves. All except Kaidan who lingered near his seat. He stepped forward and opened his mouth to speak.

" _Mission reports are filed, Commander_ ," Joker called over the comm. " _You want me to patch you through to the Council_?"

She looked at Kaidan, he clearly had a lot on his mind. She put hand on his shoulder and turned to the holographic interface.

"Patch them through, Joker," she said.

Kaidan headed for the door.

" _Setting up the link now, Commander._ "

There was a moment of static while the call connected, then the three Council members were standing before here, red, but there.

" _We've received your report, Commander_ ," Tevos said. " _I understand Dr. T'Soni is on the Normandy_?"

" _I assume you're taking the necessary security precautions_?" Sparatus asked.

"Liara's on our side," the Commander informed them. "The geth were trying to kill her."

Tevos shook her head. " _Benezia would never allow Saren to kill her daughter._ "

" _Maybe she doesn't know,_ " Valern offered.

" _Or maybe we don't know her_ ," Sparatus countered. " _We never expected she could become a traitor._ "

" _At least the mission was a success_ ," Valern added, trying to keep things upbeat.

" _Apart from the utter destruction of a major Prothean ruin_ ," Sparatus countered accusingly. " _Was that_ really _necessary, Shepard_?"

"The geth were crawling all over those ruins," she said trying not to rise to his obvious challenge. "We were lucky to make it out alive."

" _Of course, Commander_ ," Valern said before Sparatus could speak again. " _The mission must always take priority._ "

" _Good luck, Commander,_ " Tevos said. " _Remember: we're all counting on you_."

The call disconnected and Shepard sighed.

Tevos and Valern seemed to genuinely be on her side and support what she was doing.

But Sparatus? He acted like she was the wanted criminal that needed chasing. She wonder if they would ever see eye to eye on anything.

Turning for the door she decided to go and see Joker. He had pulled them out on time and she wanted to thank him for that. And get his opinion on a few things. She trusted him, she realized then. For whatever reason, she trusted Joker.

"Commander," Pressley called as she walked past.

"Pressley," she replied, stopping.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay. That was a pretty close call down there."

"It was," she agreed. "But we're okay. Joker's an excellent pilot." She turned to continue.

"Uh, Commander, one more thing, if I can."

"Speak freely Pressley."

"I noticed and asari coming out of the briefing room . . ."

"Is there a question in there?" She asked when he didn't keep speaking.

"I was just wondering if we'd added another non-human crew member."

"We have," she said, trying not to sound frustrated. "Dr. T'Soni is a leading Prothean expert and for whatever reason Saren wants her. It makes sense to me for us to keep her handy."

"Of course, Commander," he said submissively. "I didn't mean to . . ."

"Its fine Pressley, carry on." She headed the rest of the way up the bridge, wondering if her navigator was going to become a problem.

At the sound of her footsteps Joker turned his head.

"I prefer gold to sliver," he said as she walked up. "You know for my medal. I figured you'd recommend me for one since I pulled your . . . uh . . . boots out of the fire."

She laughed. "If we present you with a medal, you'll end up sitting on stage listening to politicians make speeches for a couple of hours."

He grimaced. "That's a good point," he conceded. "They'd probably make me shave too. I spent the last seven weeks working on this baby. No medal's worth that." He stroked his beard lovingly.

Shepard chuckled.

"So, Commander," he continued, "why don't you tell me why you're really here?"

"I'm trying to get to know the crew better," she said, opting for the get-to-know-you route.

"I can see were this is going," he said with a bitter sigh. "You did a background check on me, didn't you? Well, I'll tell you the same thing I told the captain. You want me as your pilot. I'm not good. I'm not even great. I'm the best damn helmsmen in the Alliance fleet.

"Top of my class in flight school? I earned that. All those commendation in my file? I earned every single one. Those weren't given to me as charity for my disease."

Her eyes went wide. "I'm sorry Joker," she said at once. "I didn't even know you were sick."

"You mean . . ." he trailed off. "You mean you didn't know? Aw crap." He took a deep breath and continued, "Okay . . . I've got Vrolik's Syndrome. Brittle bone disease. The bones in my legs never developed properly. They're basically hollow. Too much force and they'll shatter."

Shepard was shocked. She took the seat to his left, the same she'd sat in that morning.

"Even with crutches and my leg braces it's hard to get around. One wrong step and CRACK! It's very dramatic. But I've learned to manage my condition, Commander.

"Put the Normandy in my hands and I'll make her dance for you. Just don't ask me to get up and dance, unless, you know, you like the sound of snapping shin bones."

She nodded. "I'd like to know more about this Vrolik's syndrome if I'm putting my ship in your hands." She was trying to be as gentle and understanding as she could be about it. But if he was sick she needed to know as much about it as she could.

"Of course you do," he said with a sigh. "It's an extremely rare condition. Nobody knows exactly what causes it. Genetic, maybe. It's treatable, but there's no cure. They classify my case as moderate to severe. I was born with over a dozen fractures, hips, ankles, thighs. My bones were already breaking in the womb."

Shepard put her head to her mouth. His disease sounded so terrible.

"A hundred years ago, I wouldn't have survived past my first year. Lucky for me, modern medical science has turned me into a productive member of society."

She opened her mouth to say something, anything to covey how sorry she was to learn about how badly he was ailed. But the look on his face stopped her short.

"I'm sorry," she said at last. "I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable. Let's talk about something else."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever you want, Commander."

"Joker . . ." She started and stopped. "Why does everyone call you Joker?"

He laughed. "Because it's shorter than saying Alliance Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau. Plus I love to make little children laugh."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You're dodging the question."

He sighed. "Look I didn't pick the name. One of the instructors in flight school used to bug me about never smiling. She started calling me Joker, and it stuck."

"Why didn't you ever smile," she asked before she could help it.

"Hey, I worked my ass off in flight school, Shepard. The world's not going to hand you anything if you go around grinning like an idiot. By the end of the year, I was the best pilot in the Academy. Even better than the instructors. And everybody knew it." He smiled confidently and turned back to the controls.

"They'd all gotten their assess kicked by the sickly kid with the creaky little legs. One guess who was smiling at graduation."

"I think that if you try really hard," Shepard joked, "you might be able to sound a little more proud of yourself."

"I have a damn good reason to be proud," he said turning back to face her. "So why don't you tell me why you're really here?"

"Why I'm . . . what?" She asked.

"What did you really want to talk about?"

"I wanted to thank you for pulling us out of the erupting volcano. Not a lot of people could have or would have gone in there for us. So thank you."

"It's my job, Shepard," he laughed.

She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "Joker."

"Shepard?"

"Take the compliment, don't be an ass."

"Yes ma'am," he said with fake enthusiasm. He even through in a salute for good measure.

"I would punch you," she joked. "But I don't want to break you."

"Oh, nice," he laughed. "Make fun of the brittle bones kid."

She stood and pushed him good naturedly on the shoulder. "I should go."

"Shepard," he called after her.

"Yeah?" She stopped and turned.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "Just gained a new asari crewmember, and I'm not sure if I can trust her."

"Did you let her on board?"

"Yes."

"Then you must trust her a little."

"I suppose you're right," she said with a smile. "Thank you, _Jeff_."

He laughed. "You're welcome, _Jen_."

She made a face and walked away, feeling genuinely better than she had a moment ago.

She headed back to the stairs, thinking she would head down and check on Dr. T'Soni. She felt like she needed to talk to her and better understand who the woman was if she was going to have her wandering around.

As she came around the bottom of the stairs she saw Kaidan still working where he had been the yesterday.

He looked up and their eyes locked.

Before she could help it, she was walking toward him.

"Commander," he greeted her formally. "Do you have a minute?"

She nodded. "I always make time for my officers."

"Off the record, I think there's something wrong here. This Saren is looking for records of some kind of galactic extinction. But we can't get back up from the Council? Sorry, Commander. There's writing on the wall here, but someone isn't reading it."

"The Council doesn't want to believe anything's wrong." She agreed. "I'd call it human nature, but . . ."

"I hear ya," he said nodding. "It . . . it just seems like a group that's been around as long as the Council should see this coming." He laughed, not happy but not exactly bitter either. "It's funny. We finally get out here, and the final frontier was already settled. And the residents don't even seem impressed by the view. Or the dangers."

She fought back a smile. "Well, well, you're a romantic. Did you sign on for "the dream," Alenko? Secure man's future in space?"

He laughed, "Yeah, I read a lot of those books when I was kid. Where the hero goes to space to prove himself worthy of a woman he loves." He met her eyes again and both blushed. "Or, ya know, for justice." He added.

She nodded, not sure what else to say.

"Maybe I was a romantic in the beginning," he continued. "But I thought about it after Brain Camp . . . ah, sorry. "Biotic Acclimation Temperance Training." I'm not looking for "the dream." I just want to do some good. See what's out here." He looked back at her to see her smiling. "Sorry if I got to informal. Protocol wasn't a big focus back at BAaT."

She waved away his worry and said, "Tell me about it." Even though she knew there were other duties they both needed to get to, and she still needed to check on their newest crewmember. Still, she couldn't resist getting to know a little more about him.

He smiled, glad to keep their conversation going.

""Biotic Acclimation and Temperance" didn't last past the airlock. To the kids they hauled in, it was "Brain Camp." Sorry "hauled in" is unkind. We were "encouraged to commit to an evaluation of our abilities, so an understanding of biotics could be complied.""

"I remember hearing something about that," Shepard said, a distant memory tugging at her. "One of the very last homes I was at, the mom there told me about some men coming by looking for biotic kids."

"What happened?" Kaidan asked, wondering if it was possible he'd known her longer than he'd realized.

"That family was . . . bad," she struggled for a way to describe the home she lived in without enticing the pity look. "I was already planning to run before she told me that. That was just advanced my timeline a few weeks."

"Oh," he said quietly, not sure what else to say to that. The way the Commander had spoken about her past was so matter-of-fact and blasé, he wasn't sure there was anything he could say. "Well there are worse results of "accidental" exposure to element zero in the womb. It beats the brain tumors some kids grew up with."

She could hear the quotes around accidental, even if he didn't do them. "Is there some question about how you were exposed?" She had no idea how she was exposed, mainly because she had no idea who her mother was.

He shook his head. "My mother was downwind of a transport crash. It was before there were human biotics. A little after the discovery of the Martian ruins. It only gets iffy around '63 when Conatix was running out of first-gen subjects. Until then, they'd relied on accidentals."

He shook his head and sighed. "Bunch of guys in suits show up at your door after school. Next thing you know, you're out on Jump Zero."

""Jump Zero" is Gagarin Station, right?" She asked, not exactly sure. "What's it like?"

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah that's the official name. Biggest and farthest facility we had for decades. Right on the termination shock, the outer edge of the solar system. It's where they did all the "goose chase" FTL research. Before we caught on to using mass effect fields. It was a sterile research platform when I was there."

He was seeming to get more and more upset the more they spoke about it. She hadn't intended to make him feel bad. Hoping to steer the conversation to something less depressing, she asked, "There were other kids in the same boat, right? At least you weren't alone out there."

He smiled faintly. "That's true. We did have a little circle that'd get together every night before lights out. We didn't have much to do though. It was a research platform then, and Conatix kept Jump Zero off the extranet. To prevent leaks."

"Then you must've had plenty of time to get to know each other," she offered.

He chuckled softy, "Yeah. We'd sit around and bull every night after dinner. Play cards or network games. There was this girl named Rahna who had a little circle grow up around her. She was from Turkey. Her family was very rich. But she was smart and charming as hell. Beautiful, but not stuck up about it.

"Like you, I guess. Ma'am."

She suppressed a smile but felt her face color.

"Sounds like she was special to you," Shepard said gently.

"She was," he agreed sounding sad again. "Maybe she felt the same, but . . . things never fell together. Training, ya know."

Again she'd hit a sour note. So she changed the subject.

"So, do you know of any intentional exposures for certain?"

"No one "knows." Doesn't mean they didn't happen. As big as the exposures were, it was hard to track down accidentals. It was different then," he sighed, leaning against the nearby wall. "No one knew the potential, so there wasn't a lot of regulation. Anything Conatix did was gold.

"I'm not saying they intentionally detonated drives over our outposts. But in retrospect, they were damn quick on the scene."

"Jump Zero's still a long way from home. What was it like?" She was genuinely curious. There had been a few very cold winter nights were she'd wondered if maybe she should have let the government people take her away.

He scoffed softly. "The grand gateway to humanity looks a lot better in vids.

"Anyway. This was supposed to be a casual debrief, not a bull session about stuff that happened years ago."

"I wanted to get to know you better, that's all," she said with a slight smile. "Thanks for the talk, Kaidan."

"Well, you're welcome, ma'am." He looked around for a moment and the asked, "You . . . uh . . . make a habit of getting this personal with every one?"

She was ready to lie to him, to say what she knew, as a soldier she should say, but instead the truth came rushing out before she could help herself.

"No," she replied. "No I don't. We'll talk again later."

Now his face colored. "I'll . . . uh . . . I'll need some time to process that, Commander. But, yeah, I'd like that."

He smiled, she smiled; Ash walked through the mess hall coughing loudly at the sight of them.

"I should go," she said taking a step back. "I'm gotta check in on our newest house guest."

"Liara?" He asked.

She nodded. "What's wrong?" She asked when she saw the look on his face.

"Nothing," he lied, poorly.

She wanted to press him about it, but given their conversation, she decided to let it go.

"Alright well let me know if you . . . uh . . . need anything," she said departing awkwardly.

"I will," he laughed, turning back to the interface he was working on.

She turned and walked quickly away.

Her heart was racing and she needed to get away before she said something ridiculous. She had never intended to even hint to Kaidan that she felt something for him. It was foolish and broke about a dozen different regulations. If anyone had heard them talking, they could both be in trouble.

There was just something about those amber eyes that made her feel less like an Alliance Commander, and more like a squealing schoolgirl.

Oh that was a very disturbing image in her head now.

Cursing herself under her breath, she headed for the medbay.

"Hello Commander," Dr. Chakwas greeted as she walked in the door.

"Hello Doctor," she greeted in return. "How are you?"

"Doing well," she said with a smile that housed some hidden meaning Shepard wasn't aware of.

"Is everything okay?"

"I couldn't help but notice your conversation with the lieutenant."

Her heart sank. "Oh," she said. "Uh what do you know about our LT?" She asked.

"Well I've never worked with him before this mission. But he has an impressive service record, over a dozen special commendations." Shepard glanced out the medbay window and watched Kaidan struggle with the requisitions interface. An exceptional solider, she could see that. If she wasn't careful, she'd also destroy that.

"He usually tends to keep to himself, though," the doctor said, a little louder.

"Oh?" Shepard asked. He'd always seemed so open with her.

"Yes," she said smiling. "Maybe because the headaches. It's not easy being an L2."

"What does that have to do with it?"

"Well most biotics now use the L3 implants," she explained. "Lieutenant Alenko was wired with the old L2 configuration. Sometimes there are complications."

"What kind of complications?" She asked, worried about what that meant for Kaidan.

"Severe mental disabilities, insanity, crippling physical pain," she ticked off a few from the top of her head. "Kaidan's lucky, he just get migraines."

"I had no idea," she said quietly.

"I'm surprised. Being a biotic yourself."

"Yeah, my biotics aren't something I was ever proud of before the Alliance came along."

"Understandable," Chakwas agreed, placing a hand on the Commanders shoulder. "Being a biotic and an orphan, I can only imagine."

"Yeah," she said uncomfortably. "So did you get a chance to look at our newest crew member?"

"I did," she smiled, understanding the Commanders hesitance to talk. "She's just exhausted and a little overwhelmed I think. I advised her to rest and told her she could use the office at the back of the medbay for her quarters if she would like."

"Isn't that your office?"

"It is. But I never use it. The desk out here is more than adequate enough for my needs. Besides that, I don't think she would have been comfortable in the women's quarters."

"Thank you doctor," Shepard told her earnestly. "Do you think she's up for a conversation?"

"I believe so," the doctor said. "I think she might actually be waiting for you."

"Thank you." Shepard headed past the doctor and stopped at the door at the end of the medbay. She knocked and waited.

"Come in," Liara called uncertainly from inside.

Shepard hit the button for the door and it slid apart and away.

Liara was sitting at a computer console on a long table against the wall. She had her email open and was reading something from a university on Thesia.

When she heard the commander come in she closed the message and stood to face her. "Commander," she asked. "Are you coming to check up on me?"

She nodded slightly. "You look much better," she observed. "How are you feeling?"

"Dr. Chakwas assures me I am going to be fine. I was impressed with her knowledge of asari physiology."

"You're in good hands," Shepard assured her, thinking of own time under the doctor's care. "Dr. Chakwas knows what she's doing."

Liara nodded slightly. "I never properly thanked you for saving me from the geth, Commander. If you hadn't shown up . . ." Her words fell away as both considered what might have befallen her.

"I'm just glad we got there in time."

"So am I," she agreed with a slight laugh. "I know you took a chance bringing me aboard this ship. I have seen the way your crew looks at me. They do not trust me. But I am not Benezia. I will do whatever I can to help you stop Saren. I promise." She was very heated and passionate about what she was saying.

"Don't worry, Liara," she assured her. "I trust you. I know you won't let me down."

She smiled, a thing that completely transformed her normally down turned face. "It means a lot to hear you say that, Commander. Thank you."

There was a slightly awkward silence then, as neither woman knew what to say.

"So . . . tell me about yourself, Liara."

"Me?" She asked, still smiling. Her cheeks colored purple and it took the Commander a moment to realize that she was blushing. "I am afraid I am not very interesting, Commander. I spend most of my time on remote digs, unearthing mundane items buried in long-forgotten Prothean ruins."

"Sounds dangerous," she observed. "And lonely." A thing the Commander new a good deal about.

"Sometimes I would afoul of indigenous life-forms," she admitted sounding a little proud. "Or stumble across a small band of mercenaries or privateers. But I was always careful. Until the geth followed me to Artemis Tau, I never found myself in any situation my biotics could not handle.

"As for the solitude," she continued. "Well, that is one aspect that most appealed to me. Sometimes I just need to get away from other people."

"You don't like other people?" She enquired.

She shrugged. "I suppose it comes from being a Matriarch's daughter. People expected me to follow in Benezia's footsteps. They wanted me to become a leader of our people."

When Shepard started at her confused she stopped.

"Matriarch's guide their followers into the future; they seek the truth of what is yet to come," she explained. "Maybe that's why I became so interested in the secrets of the past. It sounds so foolish when I say it out loud. It sounds like I became an archaeologist simply to spite Benezia."

Shepard smiled, she had relatively little experience with parents. But she knew a thing or two about children and spite. "All children rebel against their parents. It's a natural part of growing up."

Liara laughed, loud and joyous. "You share the wisdom of the Matriarch, Shepard. That is exactly what Benezia said when I told her of my decision. But there was more to it than that. I felt drawn to the past. The Protheans were these wondrous, mysterious figures. I wanted to know everything about them." She was talking faster now.

"That is why I find you so fascinating," she continued. "You were marked by the beacon on Eden Prime; you were touched by working Prothean technology!"

Shepard laughed. "Sounds like you want to dissect me in a lab somewhere."

"What?" She asked, eyes wide. "No! I did not mean to insinuate . . . Ah! I never meant to offend you, Shepard. I only meant that you would be an interesting specimen for in-depth study. No!" She shouted again, looking like she might keel over. "Thant's even worse!"

"Clam down, Liara," she smiled. "I was only joking."

"Joking?" She asked, sounding like she might still throw herself out the airlock. "Oh, by the Goddess! How could I be so dense? You must think I am a complete and utter fool." She sighed and shook her head. "Now you know why I prefer to spend my time in the field with data disks and computers. I always seem to say something embarrassing around other people. Please . . . just pretend this conversation never happened."

"Of course," she said understanding. "You don't need to worry."

"I was hoping to make a better impression when you came to see me," she said, still sounding depressed.

"You've made a fine first impression," she assured her placing a hand on the woman's shoulder.

"Thank you, Commander," she sighed, looking slightly better. "I think perhaps I should lie down now. I am feeling very sleepy."

"Get some rest, and don't worry," she reiterated.

"I will try," she smiled. "Goodbye Commander."

"Goodbye Liara." She headed out of the room and closed the door behind her.

She couldn't help but laugh a little at how worried she had been about Liara. She was clearly not a threat to them. In time she thought she and the asari could be friends.

She looked up to fin the doctor and Kaidan staring at her.

"Doctor, LT," she said, unsure why they were staring.

"How is she?" Kaidan asked.

"Fine. Tired. She's resting now."

"That's good," Chakwas said.

"Yeah," Kaidan agreed half-heartedly.

After a small awkward silence, Shepard said, "Well I should get going. I have the rest of the team to debrief and then I have to send a report to Anderson."

"Gooday Commander," the doctor said.

"Shepard," Kaidan said with a nod.

She walked past them and out the door, not missing the way Kaidan watched her. Wishing she had kept her big mouth shut, she headed for the elevator.

"So you were saying something about a migraine?" Doctor Chakwas asked when the Commander exited.

Kaidan didn't seem to hear. He was still looking at the door.

"Lieutenant?"

His head snapped up and he looked at her, "I'm sorry Doctor." He smiled sheepishly. "I didn't heart that."

"I was asking about your migraine."

"Oh," he said. "I can feel one coming on. I was hoping to get some meds before it took me out of play for a while."

"Of course," she said turning to her workstation. She pulled a small key from a pocket on her left arm and unlocked a draw on her desk. Pulling out a large ring of keys she moved to the glass case along the other side of the wall. She stopped for a moment and then opened the case furthest from the door.

She produced a small orange bottle form inside and handed it to Kaidan.

"Thank you," she said opening the bottle and talking a small white pill from inside.

"Is there anything else you need?" Chakwas asked as he handed the bottle back.

"No," he replied politely. "Thank you doctor."

She locked the drawer on her desk and turned back to see the Lt still standing around.

Smiling she said, "She asked about you."

He smiled "She . . . what?"

Chakwas could almost laugh. "The Commander asked about you, just before she went into see Dr. T'Soni."

"What . . . uh . . . what did she say?" He asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as he could.

She smiled, pleased to see how much he cared for the Commander. Rules be damned, she had been known to say.

"She asked what I knew about you and we discussed biotics and your L2 implant."

"Is she and L2?" He wondered.

"According to her files, she was one of the first L3's ever."

He smiled slightly. Kaidan was glad to know that Shepard didn't have to suffer like he did.

"Thank you, Doctor," he said earnestly this time.

"Take care Kaidan," she said putting her hand on his shoulder.

"I will."

The elevator opened and Shepard stepped out onto the floor of the cargobay.

Garrus was standing next to what was left of the Mako scratching his head.

"Hey," she said walking over. "How bad is it?"

"What kind of scale are we talking here?" He asked.

"Uh "slap some paint on it its fine" to "dearly beloved we come here to mourn the passing of"," she replied, not sure how bad it could be.

Garrus smiled, something Shepard was starting to recognize, and said, "You should probably contact the family."

"Damn," she muttered. "That bad?"

"You ran over a giant geth."

She grimaced. "Yeah, I did do that. In my defense it was trying to kill us at the time."

He laughed. "Yeah, sure."

"So tell me straight, do I need to contact the Alliance about replacing this?"

He brought his right hand up and tapped the side of his face for a moment while he thought. "No," he said at last. "But we're gonna need to stop at the Citadel before we can take this thing out again." He sighed, not sounding pleased.

"Not looking forward to going home?" She asked.

"I was hoping to keep away from C-Sec for a while."

She nodded, "Hey, why did you want to become a C-Sec officer in the first place?"

"Hm," he laughed dryly. "That's a good question. There were several reason I guess."

"Like what?"

He shrugged. "Probably the same as most officers. I wanted to fight injustice, wanted to help people. I guess my father had something to do with it, too. He was C-Sec, one of the best."

Garrus turned and leaned against the damaged Mako. "I grew up hearing about his accomplishments or seeing his picture on the vids after a big arrest. He's taking my resignation pretty hard."

"Oh," she said quietly. When she'd asked him to join them, she hadn't thought about the far reaching effects it might have for his life. He had asked to help her see this through to the end and she had been happy for the help. Now she wondered if it was the best idea. "That's tough. But you think he'd be impressed you're going after Saren."

He shook his head. "My father's a C-Sec man to the bone. "Do things right or don't do them at all," he says. He thinks I'm being to rash. Too impatient. He's worried I'll become just like Saren." He pushed off the Mako and walked a few steps away, pacing angrily for a moment. "You know he actually talked me out of becoming a Spectre when I was younger. For the same reasons."

She turned and faced him, "You were asked to be a Spectre?"

"Well," he explained, sounding less heated, "I was targeted as a possible Spectre candidate. Me and about a thousand other turian military recruits. I could have received special training, but my father didn't like it."

Garrus walked back over and leaned against the Mako again. Shepard stepped up and did the same.

"He despises the Spectres," he went on. "He hates the idea of someone having unlimited power with no accountability." He sized her up out of the corner of his eye. "He wouldn't like you, Commander. No offense."

She chuckled a little. "I suppose I can understand his concern," she admitted.

"You can?" He asked louder than he'd intended.

Shepard nodded.

"Okay but Saren's not going to play by our rules. By C-Sec's rules. If you want to nail Saren you need to send someone who isn't restricted by policies and procedures."

She sighed, feeling strangely like she'd had this conversation with him already. "Just because you can break the rules, doesn't mean you should," she explained as neutrally as she could. "I don't need to stoop to Saren's level to stop him." She turned slightly so she was still leaning against the Mako next to him, but now she was facing him as well. "And neither do you, Garrus."

He squirmed slightly under her gaze. Her green eyes were intense, even in the poor light of the cargobay. "I see what you mean," he said at last. "But . . . I'll think about it."

She put a hand on his shoulder and nodded. "I'll make sure we get to the Citadel as soon as possible," she told him in parting.

"Thanks, Commander."

Garrus sighed as Shepard walked away.

This trip, so far, was nothing like he'd expected it to be.

He'd assumed traveling with a Spectre meant they'd be running and gunning all over the galaxy looking of Saren. He thought they would stop at nothing to bring his madness to an end. Just like all the Spectre's he'd heard about, the Commander would take the law in her own hands and make the rules up as they went.

Instead, he found that Shepard was almost annoying the opposite.

She had no interest in using dirty tactics to track Saren down.

Twice now he'd brought up the need to play outside the law.

And twice now she'd shut him down.

The first time he'd been angry.

Saren was out there wreaking havoc everywhere he went, killing innocent people and getting closer and closer to his end goal. She didn't seem to understand that.

Humans.

Damn idealists.

But this time, when she'd turned and all but stared him down, he had felt the truth in her words.

Now he was staring at the pile of rubble that used to be a Mako wondering if he'd been wrong about his approach of things before. Maybe there was something to playing by the rules he hadn't considered before.

He closed his eyes for a moment and found he could still see the Commanders green eyes blazing as she spoke. She didn't lack for passion that was for sure.

Shaking his head he turned back to the Mako. That, at least, he understood.

Shepard stopped as the elevator door opened.

Wrex came walking out.

"Hey Wrex," she greeted.

"Shepard," he said with a smile. "So we've got Saren on the run."

"It won't be long now," she agreed. He started heading toward the lockers and she followed. "Saren's good, but I'm better."

"Good. He's rotten. To the core." He shook his head. "I could tell as soon as I met him."

She faltered for a moment. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"I would've," he explained. "If I'd thought it was important."

She nodded, Wrex was not the most forthcoming of individuals. "I'd like to hear about just the same."

He shrugged. "This was a while ago," he started. "A bunch of mercs were bragging about a job out near the edges of the Terminus Systems. They said it paid well and the boss was never around to ride them. They said he was looking for more men, too. So, I checked it out."

"Wow," she said shaking her head. "I didn't know Saren was openly recruiting mercs."

"It wasn't that open. And he only showed his face once. We'd been raiding ships in the area for months when we took out his massive cargo freighter. Our biggest haul yet."

Wrex smiled as he waxed nostalgic for a moment.

"I was on board checking bodies for valuables, looking for some extra credits. That's when I saw him."

Shepard ignored his open admittance of murder and asked, "What did Saren want with the ship?"

"I don't know what he wanted. He was just moving through the ship. Watching." He shook his head as he thought about it. "Couple of the mercs called him by name, but he never spoke to them. Never spoke to anyone. I had a really bad feeling about him, so I got the hell out. Didn't even wait to get paid."

She nodded. Thinking about it for a moment, she asked, "What kind of cargo was the freighter carrying? What was Saren after?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "All I saw on that ship was food and medical supplies. There were some basic weapons, but nothing big. If there was anything valuable on that ship, I didn't see it. That's why I didn't mention it sooner."

"Whose ship was it?" She asked.

"It was a volus trading vessel. Big one, lots of guards. But they were no match for us."

"That's the only time you saw him?"

"Yeah. Didn't even know how he was. Still wouldn't if I hadn't joined up with you." He hesitated for a moment and then added, "But my instincts were right."

"How so?" She asked.

"Every other merc on that mission turned up dead within a week. Every damn one."

"Damn," she muttered shaking her head.

He opened the locker he'd been assigned and hung his shotgun up inside.

"You never found anything else out about the freighter or the mission?" She asked, even though she was sure she already knew the answer.

"No. I got the hell out and never looked back."

"Understandable. Well, thank you for telling me all the same."

"Whatever," he said heading back toward the elevator. "I'm gonna eat."

"So long Wrex," she called after him.

"Shepard," he grunted as he kept walking.

The door opened and Ash stepped out. She nodded to Wrex as they switched places.

"Commander," she said heading to her work station.

"Chief," she greeted her. "What's your opining of the last mission?" She asked quickly. Ash had turned around and looked her with a smile that the Commander now knew meant trouble.

She clicked of her tongue, "Not sure I buy Dr. T'Soni's story. About her and mom not talking. They're family, right?" She walked over and stopped at her work station.

"I think she's being straight with us," Shepard assured her. "Or, at least, I don't think she lies very often."

"Yeah," Ash scoffed. "I'm sure she's really bad at it." Her words were bursting with sarcasm and disdain. "Hey!" She said sudden and cruelly, "want me to ask her about her sex life? Might be illuminating."

Shepard sighed, not sure if Ash was kidding or being serious. "I'm not sure she's used to teasing, good natured or otherwise."

"No fun, Shepard," she said like a pouty child. "Anyway, too bad those ruins got destroyed. I mean, they lasted thousands of years. That's impressive."

"Yeah it is. But in my defense, it was us or those ruins."

Ash laughed. "I guess that's a good point. So what brings you down boss?"

"Do you have a minute?" Shepard asked. "To talk one on one?"

"Sure," she nodded. "I was hoping to get a minute of your time. Off record," she added.

Shepard chuckled quietly. It seemed to be a theme with her human crewmates.

"I keep an open-door policy," she told the Chief. "If you have any concerns, lay them on me."

She sighed and hung her head. "Alright. I know things are different aboard the Normandy, but . . . I'm concerned about the aliens." She dropped her voice. "Vakarian and Wrex. With all due respect, Commander, should they have full access to the ship?"

Taking a deep breath Shepard said, "They may not serve the Alliance, Chief, but they're allies. At least as far as Saren goes."

"This is the most advanced ship in the Alliance Navy," she stressed. "I don't think we should give them free rein to poke around vital systems. Engines. Sensors. Weapons."

"You don't trust the Alliance's allies?"

"I'm not sure I would call the Council races allies," she countered. "We, humanity, I mean, have to learn to rely on ourselves."

"Standing up for ourselves doesn't mean standing alone," she offered, trying to get this woman, whom she now considered a friend, to understand.

Ash nodded, she got what the Commander was saying. Now she needed Shepard to understand what she was saying. "I don't think we should turn down allies. I just think we shouldn't bet everything on them staying allies. As noble as the Council members seem now, if their backs are against the wall, they'll abandon us."

"You've got a pessimistic view of the universe, Williams," she remarked, trying to keep things light.

"A pessimist is what an optimist calls a realist," she countered. "Look. If you're fighting a bear, and the only way for you to survive is to sic your dog on it and run, you'll do it. As much as you love your dog, it isn't human."

Shepard opened her mouth to say something but Ash spoke up again.

"It's not racism. Not really," She explained. "Members of their species will always be more important to them than humans are."

Shepard regarded the woman. They had to be practically the same age. But the way she was speaking, it reminded her more of the way Pressley spoke. Ash talked about aliens the way older men and women, people who had been through the First Contact War, spoke. There was no way this was just Ash speaking.

"These seem like deeply-help beliefs, Ash. What made you think this way?"

She made a face. "My family's defended the Alliance since it was founded," she explained. "My father, grandfather, great-grandmother, they all picked up a rifle and swore the Oath of Service. I guess we just tend to think of Earth's interests as our own."

She nodded. "It doesn't sound like you've worked with aliens before," Shepard observed.

"No ma'am," she agreed. "Mainly I've been groundside. Part of the surface garrison forces. I did get a rotation on a space station for training." She smiled and quoted. ""Every marine, a rifleman; every rifleman, zee-gee certified.""

"That's odd," Shepard remarked. "Your record is spotless, and your technical scores are exemplary. You should be serving with the fleet."

"Anyway," Ash said, clearly dodging the question. "That's why I haven't served with many aliens."

"I never knew my family," she said, switching to another topic. "Grew up an orphan on Earth. Anybody in your family I'd have heard of?"

"Couldn't say, Commander," she said quickly. "So . . . why are you out here? Just trying to get away from Earth?"

"No," Shepard replied. "The future of humanity is out here. There's so much we haven't seen yet."

"Yeah," Ash agreed. "I still remember my first field exorcise on Titan. When we hit mud, the reality hit me: "I'm the first person who ever stood here." Then my drill instructor kicked me in the ass. I went face first into the muck. He spent the next five minutes chewing me out for "goldbricking.""

Shepard laughed. "Don't tell me you had Gunny Ellison! He's the only one who uses that word to describe shirking duty."

Ash laughed too. "Oh Lord! You went to Macapa boot camp too?" She laughed again. "Yeah, Gunny Ellison's still reaming out recruits down there. Kicking ass and using words like "inveigle" and "pusillanimous.""

Shepard shook her head at the small nature of the universe. "All right," she said at last. "I can see where your concerns are coming from, Ash. But this is a multilateral mission. You're going to have to work with aliens, like it or not."

"It won't be a problem, Shepard," she assured her. "You say "jump," I'll say "how high." You tell me to kiss a turian, I'll ask which cheek."

"I don't think kissing turians will be necessary." She replied laughing, a little too loudly.

"Who's kissing turians?" Garrus called from across the cargobay.

Shepard and Ash turned to each other, eyes huge, holding back the laughter.

He started to walk over.

"Nobody is kissing turians," Shepard called to him.

"Then why are we talking about it?" He asked suspiciously.

" _We_ are not," she said to him as he came to stand next to her. "It's just an expression."

He raised the plate on his forehead that would be the equivalent of an eyebrow for a human. He didn't believe what she was saying.

"Humans are weird," he muttered as he headed back to the Mako.

Ash and Shepard watched him go, each holding back their own laughs.

"Okay," the Commander said when he was out of ear shot. "No more talking about kissing turians."

"What about kissing Staff Lieutenants?" She asked quietly.

Suddenly the laugher died.

The Commander turned back to face the Chief.

"Ash . . ." she started. Not sure what to say to the woman. Ash would see through a lie instantly. She was sharp as a tack and Shepard was a historically bad liar.

"Don't worry, Shepard," she assured her. "I'm just messing with you. I know you know the regs as well as I do."

"I do," she agreed, still not finding the humor in the situation. "Well I should get back to it. Reports to wright, and all that." She was making excuses. Shepard knew if she stood there long enough the woman would be able to tell just how close her jest was to the truth.

Ash looked at her concerned for a moment. "Ma'am," she said in parting as the Commander turned and headed away.

Shepard didn't look up until the door to engineering had slid closed behind her. She sighed and cursed her own foolishness.

She _really_ needed to get herself under control when it came to Kaidan.

The Commander sighed, wondering if such a thing was possible.

With a sigh, she headed over to check with Engineer Adams and Tali.

"Commander!" Adams greeted over the sound of the engine.

"Adams. How's she holding up?"

"I won't lie to you, she did not like all the smoke and lava in the air," Adams explained. "But she's gonna be alright. We might need to stop off at the Citadel or Arcturus for a good over hall of her intake valves. But we'll be okay for a while."

"We'll it just so happens the Citadel is our next stop," she informed him.

"Good. Well I need to get back to it." He saluted her and returned to a console along the far wall.

She walked over to Tali and tapped her on the shoulder.

The whine of the engines died down at last.

"Oh. Hello, Shepard," she said sounding depressed.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know," she sighed. "Your ship is amazing, and your crew's been really great to me. Especially your chief engineer. But I just sort of feel . . . out of place.

"The Normandy runs so smooth it feels like we're not even moving. And the engines are so quiet. How do you sleep at night?"

"The silence wakes you up," she said, understanding what she meant.

"Back on the flotilla, the last thing you wanted to hear was silence. It means an engines died or an air filter has shut down. I guess you don't have to worry about that here. But old habits die hard."

She leaned against the counsel and sighed. "But it's more than just the silence. The ship feel so empty; like half the crew is missing."

Tali sighed and looked over at Shepard to see if she understood.

"Back home," she explained, "I couldn't wait to go on my Pilgrimage. I couldn't wait to get away from the crowds. Now that I'm out here, I kind of miss them.

Shepard nodded, understanding. "Sometimes we don't appreciate what we have until it's gone."

"That's true," she conceded, her eyes shining inside her helmet. "I'm starting to wonder if that's what the Pilgrimage is really about. It's given me a whole new perspective on my people and our culture.

"You know there's always a few who go on their Pilgrimage and never return. I always assumed something bad happened to them, but maybe they just wanted a different life."

"You do plan to return to the Migrant Fleet, right?"

"I could never abandon my people, Shepard," she replied passionately. "I will go back eventually. But we have to stop Saren first. Otherwise, I might not have a home to go back to."

"Unfortunately, that's true," Shepard said with a sigh. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No," she replied, sounding a little better. "But it makes me feel a little better talking about it."

"I remember," the commander started. "My first night at boot camp, I sat up all night. Could not sleep."

"Why?"

"It was so quiet."

Tali smiled, "you too?"

"Oh yeah. I was raised in one of the biggest cities on Earth. There was constant noise on the streets. The only time it was quiet was if someone had gotten a hold of you and dragged you away." The Commander was staring off in the distance now, caught up in her own memories.

"If you suddenly found yourself in the quite, you were in a lot of trouble." She looked over at Tali who was staring at her oddly. "Sorry," she apologized, smiling sheepishly. "Guess I got lost there. My point is I understand what you mean. About the quiet making it hard to sleep."

"I can see that."

"Well I should go," she said, not wanting to linger after such a major overshare. "I'll see you at dinner."

"See you later," she said turning back to work.

Shepard waved at Adams as she headed out and back to the elevator. She needed to give Joker the new destination and get the Alliance report done before dinner. She was really starting feel the lack of sleep. Hopefully tonight would be better.


	10. Chapter 10

Shepard shot up in bed, covered in sweat, again.

She looked around the room.

Another nightmare.

What was this one about?

Kaidan.

This one was about Kaidan getting hurt or maybe he had died.

She swung her legs off the edge of the bed and stood.

It wasn't even four yet.

She took a drink of water and crumpled the paper cup in her hand.

So much was going on she needed to get sleep.

Shepard glanced back at her bed.

Images of Kaidan covered in blood and dying flashed in mind.

Nope.

She would not be sleeping again tonight.

Slipping on her robe she opened the door to her room and stepped out into the hall.

Again it was dark and silent. She could hear the soft slap of her bare feet against the cold steel of the floor. She could even hear the hum of the engines. Which was saying something on a brand new warship.

She wondered for a moment if maybe Joker was up again.

He couldn't be, she realized suddenly. He hadn't slept on the flight to find Liara and he'd been awake the entire time they were planet side.

By now he was probably snoring loudly on a bunk in the crew quarters.

Maybe that meant the VI was flying the ship and she could sit and sip tea while watching the stars fly past. That sounded very relaxing. If she could do that, she might be able to get back to sleep.

Stopping briefly she made a quick cup of tea before she headed up the stairs toward the bridge. She walked slowly, sipping the hot tea, marveling at the empty CIC.

She wondered for a moment how many people were absolutely necessary to operate the ship. It was so new they could probably get by with a handful of people.

"Shepard?"

She stopped.

The Commander had been so caught up thinking about the ship and the crew that she hadn't noticed someone sitting in the pilot's chair.

Kaidan was watching her, his amber eyes sparkling.

"You're awake," she stated stupidly.

He smiled at her, making her heart spike a beat.

"You're awake too," he commented.

"Yeah," she smiled. She walked over and took the seat to the left, like she had before.

"Can't sleep?"

"Nightmares," she replied, opting for the truth.

"Do you have them a lot?" He asked sympathetically.

"I had them a lot after Elysium. But they went away after a while."

"But now?"

She turned in the chair and looked at him. "I think the beacon may have triggered them again."

He nodded, still obviously feeling guilty about everything that had happened that day. "Are they always about the blitz or the beacon?"

She baulked, images of him from her dream in her mind. "No. But usually."

Kaidan looked at her, picking up that there was something she wasn't saying.

"Why don't you talk about it?" He asked suddenly. "About the Blitz I mean."

She looked down at the cup of tea in her hand. Eventually everyone asked about that battle. It was what she was known for. And now she was commanding a vessel in the navy, people were gonna want to know.

She sighed.

"You don't have to . . ." Kaidan started. He wanted to know what happened, wanted to know her better. And he didn't know if he would ever get her alone again. It seemed the perfect opportunity to ask.

Now, of course, he felt like an idiot.

"It's okay," she said still facing her tea. "I understand being curious."

She took another sip and set the cup in the small alcove made for it on the arm of the chair.

Not sure she could look at him, she focused on the window.

"It was my first assignment, right out of basic," she started. "I was twenty-one according to the Alliance. Of course I could have been twenty to twenty-three, but that doesn't matter."

Kaidan wanted to ask about the age gab but decided to let it go for now.

"I had just finished my zero-g training and my platoon was being sent to help shore up colonies in the Terminus Systems. The Batarians had made real threats against the Alliance and people were becoming generally concerned.

"Our boots hit dirt at thirteen hundred fifteen on April fourth 2176. My unit was assigned to protect the city, something they told us would be simple. With so many Alliance vessels in the system and the dozen other units with boots on the ground, we were mostly there to reassure the civilians.

"It was the middle of the night when they came," her voice had taken on a tremor and her eyes had glazed over. Kaidan could tell she was caught up in the memories.

"I was lucky I suppose. Living on the street for so many years I was able to be up and alert in a heartbeat. But people panicked and it was dark and the first wave of missiles took out command."

"They bombed the city?" Kaidan asked.

She looked up at him, eyes still glassy. "Not the city. They wanted as many regular civilians to survive as possible, for slaves. They targeted the chain of command to throw us into chaos. And it worked."

"I didn't know."

"I started grabbing anybody I could get my hands on and ordering them to get the civilians into the shelters. It took a while to get everyone on board, but by then we were down to half strength.

"We got the civilians to safety and locked the bunkers down. I had planned for the rest of us to hold the entrance to the bunker until morning. I assumed that the Alliance would hear and rush to help us."

"How long were you down there?"

"A week. Or, well, five days."

He nodded. Kaidan had heard as much.

"It didn't take long for the batarians to figure out where we were. Even less time to start picking off my team.

"The problem was the Alliance had instructed us to move the civilians into underground bunkers. They thought it would protect them from bombs the batarians would drop and keep them safe until the ground forces could push back.

"What they didn't realize was that when we pulled the civilians down there, we trapped ourselves. We couldn't run back because the doors to the bunker were sealed and none of us knew the code. Forward was suicide. So we held.

"By the end of the first day we were down to five. Myself, Adams, Tsukino, Burdges, and Mac Nue. Mac and I had been together since basic. She was the first real friend I'd had in the Alliance."

"Had?" Kaidan asked gently.

She looked away, tears in eyes. "Yeah, had. We lost her . . . _I_ lost her the second or maybe third night."

"Shepard," he started. "You can't blame yourself for what happened."

"I can," she replied simply. "They were following my orders. It was my command, my first command and I managed to get twelve people killed."

"You saved the entire colony!" He countered.

She looked at him and tried to smile.

"By the second night we were down to three," she continued. "Then Adams took a shot to the shoulder, he lived but he was unable to keep fighting. The next night a flashbang came over the wall and something in Tsukino snapped.

"I'm not really sure what happened, but he lost it. A few men from the bunker came up and took them with them. They wanted to stay and fight, but I wouldn't let them. Too many people had died and I refused to have the lives of civilians on my hands."

Kaidan wanted to ask so many questions. Mostly he wanted to reach out and hold her. But how could he possibly hold her? Forget regulations, she, Commander Shepard, had more badass in her little finger than he did in his whole body. You didn't just hold someone like that.

"I spent the next three days and four nights holding that position. Keeping the batarians at bay and pushing back when they pushed."

"How?"

"Biotics," she smiled now. "Did you know you can use your power to trigger a gun?"

"No," he replied. In truth he'd never considered trying.

"Well you can. And you can hurl grenades too."

"Shepard," he whispered.

"It's okay," she said smiling sadly. "I survived. That's what I do."

"Survive?"

She nodded. "I am a survivor."

He didn't know what to say.

"Anyway. That's how the blitz went down. And that's why I don't talk about it. I spent over seventy-two hours awake, fighting. It messed me up, for a while. That's why there's almost a year gap between that mission and my starting the N7 program."

Kaidan did a little counting in his head.

"Wait, Shepard. How old are you?"

She chuckled. "Well according to the Alliance I am twenty-eight. But I could be as old as thirty-one. I'm not sure."

She was so young!

Wait, or was she?

He was confused.

"You're adopted," he stated understanding.

"Yup. My mother or father . . . someone left me at firehouse 51 in Chicago when I was a toddler. There was no way to tell how old I was. The only reason they knew my name was because the jacket I was wearing had my name written on the tag. Or at least they assumed it was mine."

"Is that why you don't like your name?" He asked, sensing the connection.

"It's the only thing my family ever gave me," she explained. "And I don't want it."

She leaned her head back and sighed. The hope was that she would be able to calm herself and then maybe get more sleep. Now, however, she seemed more alert than ever.

"I'm sorry if I brought up something I shouldn't have," Kaidan said apologetically.

"It's okay," she replied, her eyes still closed. "People always wonder. At least you asked. And anyway, it was a long time ago and I don't really think about it much."

He watched her for a moment. Then he decided it would be best to leave things as they were.

She sat for a few more minutes, eyes closed, listening to the sound of the ship and Kaidan beside her. It was weird at first, listening to him breath. The ship was so quite she could hear him quite clearly. Then, after a moment or so, she found it oddly comforting. Listening to him breathe, knowing that she wasn't alone, made her feel remarkably at ease.

Her head drooped to the side.

She started momentarily and then settled back down again.

Kaidan watched her still.

A minute or two later and she was snoring softly in the chair.

He smiled.

She must have been exhausted.

It made him happy to know that she felt safe enough around him to sleep. Or she was dead on her feet tired.

He checked the travel time.

They were still hours from the Citadel.

He switched the Normandy to auto-pilot and stood. As carefully as he could, the LT scooped her out of the chair.

She stirred or a moment and he froze, terrified of what would happen if she suddenly woke.

He had not thought this through at all.

He wanted to help and be kind to her but this was not something he should have done. He hesitated, wondering if it would be best to just set her back down.

No.

She deserved a decent night's sleep.

When she finally settled in his arms, he walked quietly down the bridge and through the CIC.

She was lighter than he would have guessed.

Maybe the stories about her along with her rank and stature made her seem larger than life. Looking at her now, she was remarkably small. Too small to have dealt with everything she'd been through.

Turning sideways he scooted through the door and took the stairs one at a time.

Shepard turned in his arms and nuzzled her face into his chest.

His heart rate spiked.

Taking measure breaths he reached the bottom of the stairs and kept going slowly and quietly. He reached her door and stopped.

Using her toe he pushed the button and stepped into her private quarters.

The room was sparse and almost completely unadorned.

If it wasn't for the lone framed picture on the desk, the room would be bare.

Kaidan walked to the bed and stopped.

He wasn't holding her right. Her head was resting in the crook of his left arm and her knees in his right.

Not sure what else to do, he carefully kicked his shoes off and walked up on the bed. He went down on his knees and as gently as he could manage, he laid her out on the bed.

Now he was stuck.

Kaidan shifted so he was laying on his side. Then he slowly began to slide his arm out from under neck.

Centimeter by centimeter he slowly pulled his arm away until he was free. He slid quickly and gently off the bed. He grabbed the blanket off the edge of the bed and draped it over her. Grabbing his shoes off the floor he exited the room. As the door slid closed behind him he let out a long low breath.

"Do I even want to know?" Joker asked, standing in the mess and eyeing Kaidan as he walked out of the Commanders room.

His face flushed red. "She . . . uh the Commander I mean, fell asleep on the bridge. I was just bringing her down to her quarters and putting her . . . in . . . bed . . ."

"Uh hu," he laughed, not believing him at all. "And you needed to take your shoes off for that?"

"This . . . I wasn't . . ." Kaidan stammered. "It's not what it looks like."

"Hey I didn't see anything," he muttered as he grabbed his cup of coffee and headed up to the CIC.

Kaidan sighed and shook his head, he was going to hear about that later.

Shepard opened her eyes, confused.

She was in her room.

But that couldn't be right.

She was just on the bridge, wasn't she?"

Could she have walked all the way back and not remember it?

No.

Her memory wasn't that bad.

" _Commander_ ," Joker called over the comm.

"What time is it?" She asked sitting up.

" _Well the local time is about noon_."

"Local time?"

" _Yeah, that's what I was calling about. We're here. We just docked at the Citadel_."

"Fantastic," she muttered. "I'll be right up."

Shepard dressed quickly, opting for armor over fatigues. She didn't know enough about the Citadel to feel completely safe there. Once her gear was on she made her way quickly to the CIC. She waved at the soldiers who waved to her but didn't stop to talk.

"Joker," she said coming up behind him.

"Well good morning sleeping beauty," he laughed as she stopped behind his chair.

"Shut up," she muttered taking the seat to his left. "What happened?"

"Whatever do you mean, Commander?" Joker replied with a laugh and in a way that made her very suspicious.

"Don't make me hurt you to get the information I want," she laughed. She pulled all her hair around the front and started to toss it up in a quick braid.

"Got enough hair?" Joker asked.

"You're dodging my question," she replied, not looking at him.

"Kaidan said you passed out this morning," he explained. "Carried you all the way back to your room . . . _himself._ "

Her fingers faltered.

"Yeah," he said nodding.

"How . . . um . . . how many members of the crew witnessed this?" She asked, not looking forward to having to quell rumors.

"Just me," he turned in his chair, something that looked like it caused him some pain. "Shepard, what's going with you two?"

Taken aback by the concern in both his voice and his eyes, she replied honestly. "I . . . I don't really know."

"Jen you know what happens to you two . . ."

"I know," she cut in, letting his use of her first name slide. "I'm not pursuing anything."

"Then what is it with you two?"

"I wish I knew," she sighed.

"Be careful," he cautioned.

She eyed him suspiciously. "Why do you care?" She wasn't being harsh or angry with him, she was genuinely curious.

He looked away. "I told you. You remind me of my sister."

"Oh . . . well thanks I guess."

He scoffed. "You guess?"

"Look I'm not used to this," she said gesturing around in a wide area. She finished the braid and tossed it over her shoulder.

Joker turned back to the controls and began the lengthy process of shutting down the engines. He stopped, "how long are we staying?"

"Twenty-four hours," she said taking in the damage to the Mako, restocking and checking in with Anderson.

He nodded and continued to shut down the engines.

"Let the crew know?" She asked.

He nodded.

She stood and headed for the door.

"Shepard?" Joker called, not turning around.

"Yeah?" She stopped.

"Be careful," he reiterated.

She smiled, glad to have a friend that cared. "I will."

She was already on the elevator by the time Joker had finished his announcement.

When she finally got to the bottom and the door opened, most of the crew from the lower decks was waiting to get on.

"Commander," a few greeted her as they got on. She nodded to them and moved to the side as they stepped aboard. She looked around to see both Wrex and Garrus standing off to the side. Slipping out at the last second, she walked over to them.

"I thought you two would be headed out too." She said.

"Just waiting for the next lift," Garrus said evasively.

"Uh hu."

"People don't like me," Wrex stated.

"So you're waiting?"

"Yup."

"Okay," she walked over and stood next Garrus and crossed her arms like him. "So do you think you'll be able to get everything you need to fix her?" She nodded her chin toward the Mako.

Wrex laughed and walked over to push the button to call he lift back.

"It's gonna take some work," he said with a sigh. "But I've worked on worse. Hell I've date worse."

Shepard laughed. "That sounds like a story."

He laughed awkwardly. "I'm not drunk enough for this conversation."

She laughed again. Enjoying watching him squirm a little. "So what you're saying, is that if I get you drunk enough, you'll tell me all your secrets?"

He shifted uncomfortably on his feet and cleared his throat.

"Damn, Vakarian," she laughed. "You might not want to spread that information around."

"Keep laughin," he grumbled.

The soft ding signaled the arrival of the elevator.

"Do you need any help getting the parts?" Shepard asked as the three stepped onto the lift.

Garrus lifted the data pad in his hand and went over a few things. "No. I think as long as you've got me authorized to make purchases for the Alliance, we're good."

"You should just have to tell them your name and the name of the ship. If there's an issue call me. But they shouldn't hassle you."

Wrex grunted but didn't say anything.

"Where are we headed after this?" Garrus asked when the elevator fell silent.

"After Benezia," Shepard stated. "We need as much information about Saren as we can get. Hopefully she can provide us with that."

"What do we do if corner that asari and the other one turns on us?" Wrex asked.

"You mean Liara?" the Commander asked. "I'm not worried about her."

"Should we be?" Garrus asked.

She thought for a moment. "I don't think so. She seems more awkward and bumbling then malicious and threatening."

"And if you're wrong?" Wrex asked.

"Then we handle her."

By the time Shepard had made her way to the airlock, most of the crew had made their way on to the Citadel. She Garrus and Wrex hit the button on the door and waited.

" _Equalizing interior pressure with exterior atmosphere_ ," the ships VI announced. " _Logged: The commanding office is ashore. XO Pressley has the deck._ "

"Human ships," Garrus muttered under his breath.

"Problems?" Shepard asked as the airlock opened.

"On a turian ship," he explained. "We don't announce when the Captain has left the ship and we certainly don't publicize who the next in command is."

They stopped as a man in an admiral's uniform approached them.

He saluted as she approached. "Rear Admiral Mikhailovich, Fifth Fleet."

She returned the salute, "Commander Shepard, SSV Normandy."

"You don't know who I am, do you Commander?"

She shook her head.

He sighed, "I command the 63rd Scout Flotilla. You and the Normandy were slated for my unit after shakedown. Then the Council got their paws . . . claws. Tentacles. Whatever. They got them on our ship. And you."

She felt Garrus tense behind her.

"I still serve the Alliance, sir," she assured him. "As a Spectre, I can advance out interests to the Council."

"Hmph," he scoffed. "You still know what color your blood is, Shepard?"

She held her tongue. She knew better than to talk back to an admiral. She couldn't say the same for Garrus and Wrex.

"I don't begrudge the politicians' decision to throw you to the Council," he continued. "It's an . . . opportunity. I do begrudge this overdesigned piece of tin, though." He gestured toward the Normandy.

Now her feathers were ruffled.

"The Normandy is a fine ship, sir," she said with as much respect as she could muster. "She's served us well so far."

He laughed. "It's a gimmick, Commander. Useless in a stand up fight." He took a few steps toward the ship. "This experiment diverted billions from our appropriations bills. For the same price, we could have had a heavy cruiser.

"But no. We had to make nice to the turians." He glared at Garrus.

Shepard reached behind herself and grabbed Garrus' arm. He had started forward but stopped now.

"Throwing money at a co-developed boondoggle. I'm here to make an inspection, Commander. Normandy is an Alliance warship. I intend to see she's up to snuff."

Taking a deep breath she replied, "We'd be honored to show her to you, Admiral."

"I'll just bet," he muttered. "Wait here. I won't be long." He blew past them and into the ship.

Shepard kept a hold of Garrus until the airlock closed.

She released his arm and turned back to them.

"Some humans," he muttered.

"Thank you," she sighed.

"For what?" Wrex asked.

"Not throttling him like you wanted to."

"What is it with humans?" Wrex asked. "Always gotta start problems."

"Should we go after him?" Garrus asked.

"No," she decided. "He's not gonna like us anymore if we follow him around. Besides we don't have anything to hide."

"I got places to be," Wrex muttered as he headed for the elevator.

"You can go too," Shepard told Garrus. "I know you have stuff to do."

"I'll wait." He replied simply.

"Thanks," she said with a smile. "I'm not gonna keep holding your hand, though."

Garrus laughed and look at her. "Well I'm leaving then," he joked taking a few steps toward the elevator. He stopped after a few steps and glanced at her over his shoulder. Something that was difficult given his carapace.

She folded her arms. "Go on then," she said shooing him dismissively.

"You don't know what you'd do without me," Garrus joked walking back over.

"Probably wouldn't have a working ground vehicle," she noted.

"True."

"Things would be mis-calibrated all over the place."

"Also true."

"Though that smell would probably be gone."

"Yeah," he nodded. "Wait, what smell?"

The airlock opened and the Admiral walked out. Shepard checked the clock on her omnitool. He'd been gone less than fifteen minutes. That was hardly enough time to walk the length of the ship.

"Commander," he said shaking his head. "I'm not happy."

"I'm sorry to hear that sir," she replied, not surprised at all.

"Who designed that CIC? Putting the Commander aft of everyone else is inefficient. What if he needs to discuss with the operators toward the bow?"

"Modified Turian style," She replied right away. "They prefer commanders looking over their subordinates, rather than in the middle of them. We wanted to see how effectively they can command with that setup."

Shepard was really glad she'd taken time to read all the paperwork Anderson had left behind about the ship. She hadn't anticipated needing to defend her ship.

"Hm," he replied thinking. "Reasonable goal. But they should have studied that in a lab rather than a front line warship."

Shepard tried to smile, but it came across as a grimace.

"I had to shake my head at that drive core of yours. 120 billion credits of element zero to make this thing able to move without giving itself away. You realize we could make drive cores for 12,000 fighters with that money? What good is it to hide for a few hours, anyway? Useless!"

She shook her head, steadily losing her cool. "We can loiter in an enemy system and monitor traffic, or drop infiltration teams on enemy worlds. Normandy can be more effective than the salarian STG."

"Maybe, maybe," he muttered, clearly seeing the truth of what she was saying. "But that's not the job of a proper warship. We're supposed to find and kill the enemy fleet, not count how many times their garrison goes to the bathroom. And we need to talk about your crew, Commander."

This, she knew was coming.

"Krogan? Asari? Turians?!" He shot a meaningful look at Garrus. Again Shepard reached out and grabbed his arm, afraid he might fly at the man.

"What are you thinking, Commander?" He continued. "You can't allow alien nationals free access to Alliance equipment!"

Now she'd had enough.

"Between Saren and the geth, we have enough enemies out here. Treating other species with suspicion and mistrust won't win hearts and minds!"

"That assumes," he countered. "The hearts and minds are worth winning. That hasn't been proven yet. You have anything else to say, Commander? Any other justifications for the state of this vessel?"

She sighed. "I think the Normandy is a good ship, sir. Even if you disagree, you have to see that her joint construction and multiracial crew make the Alliance look better."

"Your job as is to look good, Commander. The Alliance Navy's is to win wars." He sighed and took his cap off for a moment. He ran his fingers through his brown hair that was graying at the sides. "I'm not convinced Normandy isn't a waste of taxpayer money. But I am convinced that you believe otherwise. And you'll use it to its best ability."

The Admiral turned and faced her directly again. "I'll be submitting a report to the Joint Military Council. It will not be as negative as I had planned." He saluted her. "Good hunting, Commander Shepard. Make us proud."

He turned and walked to the elevator, he didn't even look at Garrus whom he had all but insulted.

Once the door closed Shepard released him again.

"You know I have more self-control than a child," he told her. "You don't have to hold me back."

"I know," she sighed. "I think it was more to keep me from going crazy than you."

"Humans are prone to emotional outbursts," he agreed.

"Yeah. Well at least that's over. Come on, we have a ton of parts to get."

"We?" He asked as they headed for the elevator.

"Yeah, we. I broke it. Might as well help you fix it."


	11. Chapter 11

It took nearly three hours to find all the parts Garrus needed to fix the Mako. They had to travel around all five of the wards. Shepard hadn't been a fan of shopping before this experience. She was even less of one now.

Garrus had taken some of the men from engineering and together they were hauling everything back to the Normandy. Shepard had parted company with him there and headed up to see Anderson.

She headed first to the embassy, but he wasn't there.

Not sure where else to look, she headed for the tower.

"Shepard."

She turned and saw Liara and Tali walking around the Presidium.

"Ladies," she greeted them with a smile. "How are we doing?"

"Good," Tali responded brightly.

"We are doing very well," Liara agreed. "It is good to be amongst the living again."

Shepard raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh Goddess," she whispered. "I've done it again. I meant to say that it is pleasant to be around people instead of bones."

"Still creepy, but better," Shepard said with a laugh.

Liara flushed a deep shade of purple which both Tali and Shepard pretended not to see.

"So did you and Garrus find everything?" Tali asked, steering the conversation away from Liara.

"Yeah," she sighed. The three started moving toward an upper level railing that overlooked the fountains below. They stood for a while and the Commander regaled them with the tale of shopping with Garrus.

"I can't imagine a man being so excited about shopping," Tali laughed.

"He delighted in it," she assured them.

For a while after that the women wandered, stopping in various shops, much to Shepard's dismay.

After about half an hour Tali broke off from the group, wanting to go see a used ship dealer on one of the lower wards. Which left the Commander and Liara to wander.

"It's been so long since I have been here," Liara remarked offhandedly.

"You've been to the Citadel before?" Shepard asked.

"Only once. When I was very small."

"How old were you?"

"Forty, I think."

Shepard shook her head. _Only_ forty.

"Why did you come?" She asked.

"My mother."

"Liara, I'm sorry."

"It is fine," she said, cutting the commander off. "It is one of the happier memories I have of her. We came to see Councilor Tevos. She wanted my mother's council on an important matter."

"What matter?"

Liara shrugged. "I'm not sure. My mother left me to play amongst the trees while she spoke to her."

She had slowed to a stop as the memories played in her mind. Asari didn't have the recollection of a drell, but their memories were very sharp.

"Liara," Shepard ventured when the woman remained silent. "About your mother . . ."

She turned and stared the commander down, her purple eyes trying to see into the other woman's very soul. "We're going after her, aren't we?"

Shepard nodded. "As soon as the Mako is up and running and Normandy is ready, we're heading to Noveria."

"Is that where she is?"

She nodded again. "We think so. She was last seen at a research facility there. We're not sure why she's there, but we're gonna find out. I just . . . I wanted you to know."

"Thank you Commander," Liara replied with a sad smile. "I appreciate you being so forward." She sighed and looked around. "I am afraid all the shopping has worn me out. I think I will return to the ship and get some rest."

She started to leave.

Shepard reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Liara . . . she struggled to find words to comfort her. "I know I don't understand, about you and your mom. But if you ever need to talk . . ."

Liara smiled, and her face was completely transformed.

She was beautiful.

"Thank you, Commander. I am not able to talk about her now, but when I am, I will be happy to share my memories with you."

Shepard nodded and watched as she walked away.

Kaidan wondered aimlessly.

He had nothing to do.

Technically he was off today.

Not on shore leave, that would allot him more free time and more freedom with that time.

Today he was just off, unless something terrible came up and then he would need to report in.

So he wandered.

For a while he thought of nothing.

Then he thought of Shepard.

He thought about that small moment of time that morning where he had laid next to her. It had lasted less than a minute, but it was burned into his memory.

It accrued to him that if anyone other than Joker had seen him coming out of her room this morning, he would have been court marshaled. At the very least, kicked off the Normandy.

So he wandered.

He got a few things he needed and picked up the extra parts he needed to fix the broken requisition terminal. He was afraid that people would start to question why it had broken. It just so happened that Dale Hammond, an officer from engineering, had a knack for getting what was needed and was happy to fill in until it was fixed.

"Lieutenant."

Captain Anderson was standing in a doorway he'd just walked past.

It was an unmarked building on the presidium.

Not that it was unusual for a building to not advertise what went on inside.

It was, however, unusual for a captain in the Alliance Navy to be exiting one.

"Captain?" He asked, still examining the building.

Catching his gaze, Anderson quickly shut the door behind him and stepped out onto the walkway.

"Afternoon," he greeted Kaidan brightly. "I heard the Normandy had made port here. I was just on my way to see the Commander. How is she doing?" He had started walking, leading the other man away from the building.

"Uh the ship or the commander?" Kaidan asked, shooting one last glance behind him.

Anderson laughed, a loud and genuine sound. "Both I suppose. Tell me everything."

Anderson spent the next twenty minutes walking and conversing with Alenko. The man had a good grasp of how well the ship and the mission were going, but he did seem to get slightly flustered when every Shepard was brought up.

At first he assumed it was an admiration thing. But the longer they spoke, the more concerned he became about it.

They came to a stop just outside the human embassy.

"So tell me," Anderson asked. "Shepard, how is she doing, really? I worry about that girl like she was my own."

Kaidan baulked.

Anderson sighed.

"She's doing as well as she can," he struggled to explain. "She doesn't sleep very well."

Anderson nodded, his concern about Alenko being quickly replaced by his worry for Shepard's wellbeing.

"When I first found her on that dirty street in Chicago, she didn't sleep for weeks. And when she did sleep, the slightest sound would wake her. You couldn't even breathe in the same room without her eyes snapping open, full alert."

Kaidan nodded, not sure what else to say.

"It took a long time for her to trust in the Alliance enough to sleep soundly. Then, after the blitz, it was like square one all over again. I think it wasn't until after she passed the test for N7 that she finally got a good night's sleep."

"She thinks it was the beacon," Kaidan offered. "That it triggered the nightmares she used to have about the blitz."

Anderson nodded.

"Alenko I don't think I need to tell you how important the Commander is, not just to the Alliance, but to me personally."

"No, sir."

"Then I know that when I tell you, to take care of her, you will do that in a professional manner. Professional and in accordance with all Alliance rules and regulations. Correct?"

Kaidan looked away. "Yes, sir."

"Good," he replied, patting the young man on the shoulder. "Now how about we find Shepard and have some dinner? I have a few things I'd like to discuss with the both of you."

Not sure he could think of worse table to be at, Kaidan nodded and let the Captain lead him away.

Shepard jogged down the stairs, admiring the cherry blossom trees as she went.

She had searched the entire council chamber, and she still couldn't find Anderson.

At the bottom of the steps she stopped and looked around. Knowing she couldn't search the entire Citadel, she decided to leave him a message. She could ask him to meet her at the Normandy whenever he got a free moment.

The sound of arguing caught her attention.

"No. I'm waiting to speak with one of the Councilor's assistants." A man in an Alliance uniform was at a communications terminal yelling very heatedly at another man on the screen.

When he saw her, he ended the call and turned to face her.

She noted the stripes on his uniform, he was an admiral. She could also see grey hair and deep set worry lines around his eyes and mouth.

"Congratulations on becoming the first human Spectre, Commander," he said greeting her. "I'm certain you'll be up to the challenge."

"I appreciate that," she said, shaking his hand.

"My name is Admiral Kahoku. It's about time the Alliance got one of our own in with the specters. We need people like you to deal with our . . . problems." The way he said the last word, he clearly had a specific problem in mind.

"Is something wrong, Admiral?" She asked.

"I'm getting stonewalled by bureaucratic assholes," he said with a shrug. "Nothing new." He looked hard at her for a moment. "Maybe you can help me Shepard. One of my recon teams was investigating some strange activity out in the Traverse.

"We lost contact yesterday. Now I can't get clearance to check it out . . . suddenly it's a restricted area. But that doesn't apply to you, Shepard. Spectres can go anywhere they want. You could find out why my team dropped out of contact."

She nodded, not liking the way a lost team of marines sounded. "I'll find them, Admiral."

"I appreciate that, Commander," he said with a deep sigh. He looked like some weight had been lifted off him. "I was running out of options. I'm going to stay here, see if I can find anything out through official channels. Won't hold my breath though."

She saluted him and he returned the gesture.

"Oh and Commander," he called, after she had turned to leave.

"Yes, sir."

"If or when you find something," his voice was little more than a whisper now. "Send it to me privately. I don't want it get tied up in Alliance channels."

She thought about asking why. But he was an Admiral. "Yes, sir," she repeated.

Shepard sighed as the incredibly slow elevator finally came to a stop at the Normandy's hanger. She shifted uncomfortably in her armor. She needed to change out of it and have the shoulders readjusted. Somehow her weight had changed and now the pads pinched.

" _Standby shore party. Decontamination in progress,"_ the VI chimed. The scanner swept back and forth, decontaminating her and the air around her. _"Logged: The commander officer is aboard. XO Pressley stands relieved_."

The doors hissed and slid open.

"Commander?" Joker called from the bridge.

She turned and headed onto the bridge. "Yeah?"

"Kaidan was looking for you."

She felt the blood drain from her face. "Was he?"

Joker almost laughed when he saw the look on her face. "Yeah, he and Captain Anderson called looking for you."

"Anderson called too?" She was suddenly very worried.

"Something about dinner I think."

"Dinner? With both of them?"

Now Joker did laugh. "That's what they said."

"I think I might be sick," she muttered sinking into the seat next to him.

"You might wanna do something about that green on your face," he laughed.

"Did they say where?"

"Nope. Only that they were headed here to wait for you."

"Fantastic."

Ten minutes later Shepard was checking her hair in the mirror of her quarters. She had pulled it down from the bun she was rocking earlier and braided it. She had even applied some make up. She wasn't very skilled with it, but she could apply foundation and eyeshadow and even eyeliner.

She stepped back and admired herself.

Hell, she didn't look half bad.

Shepard didn't posses any kind of nice clothes. She had a couple of pairs of jeans, a number of tee-shirts, her fatigues, dress whites, and armor. That was it.

So she had decided to dress in fatigues.

" _Commander_?" Joker asked over the comm.

"Yea?"

" _Lieutenant Alenko and Captain Anderson have just come aboard and are headed your way._ "

"Fantastic. Thanks Joker."

" _Anytime_."

Shepard flicked her long braid over her shoulder and hit the button for the door.

"Commander," Anderson greeted her brightly. He and Kaidan were right on the other side of her door. She tried to smile but it came off as more of a grimace.

"Dinner?"

Kaidan stared at Shepard.

Not looked or glanced or gazed.

He full on _stared_ at her.

Her hair was in a braid down her back and she had make up on.

The Commander was beautiful, plain face with no enhancements.

With the make up on . . .

He was speechless.

"Dinner?" He asked stupidly.

It took some convincing, but after a few minutes, Anderson had convinced Shepard to share dinner with him and the Lt. He had wanted to have dinner in the mess hall, something the Captain had missed since leaving the Normandy.

The Commander had shot the idea down immediately.

The last thing she wanted was to have dinner with the former commanding officer on the ship she had recently taken from him. Not to mention the people who would flock to the table to speak with both of them.

They would never get a moment to talk.

And judging by the look on Anderson's face, he had a lot to speak about.

Kaidan had saved the day by suggesting they set a table up at the end of the metal walkway in the docking bay. They would be close enough that the Mess Sargent could still prepare Andersons favorite meal, country fried steak with brown gravy and sausage, but they would be up by the kinetic barrier and away from prying eyes.

A table was brought out and somewhere they had dug up a black tablecloth and real, actual silverware and flatware. They had even produced glass goblets for wine. Where the wine had come from, she had no idea.

Once they were seated and the pleasantries were dispensed with, Shepard got down to business.

"I'm glad to see the Normandy is doing well," the Captain said with a sigh.

"She's an amazing ship," Kaidan agreed.

"So what's going on, sir?" Shepard asked. "I know this isn't a casual visit."

Anderson sighed. "I'm here because of Udina."

"The ambassador?" Kaidan asked.

"Yes. He's been raising quite a stink since you destroyed those ruins to save Dr. T'Soni. And that fact that you have adopted her as part of your crew, he's taken that as a personal insult."

"The doctor is our best chance at getting answers out of Benezia. I wouldn't have taken her onto the ship if I thought she was dangerous," Shepard explained.

"I know you trust her," Anderson said, "And I know better than to question you judgment. But stirring things up with Udina will only make things harder."

"I'm trying to stir things up with anyone," she sighed. Not liking the thought of having to dance around the politicians.

"I know," Anderson sighed. "Regardless, he can make things difficult for all of us if we piss him off."

"I'm sorry, sir," she said seeing his point. Clearly Udina had already become a problem for the Captain.

"Nothing to be sorry for," he said measurably happier. The food arrived shortly after that and the three ate and spoke pleasantly.

"And then she turns to him," Anderson continued, laughing so hard it was hard to understand him. "And he goes flying backwards, over the railing of the ship and straight into the . . . the . . . what was it called?"

Shepard rolled her eyes. "A tranquility pond. And I didn't blast him over the railing. He fell."

Kaidan was laughing so hard he looked like he might die of asphyxiation.

Anderson let out a huge laugh that echoed off the walls of the docking bay and bounced around the Normandy. "You let off a biotic display so tall it nearly toppled the statue of you!"

"It wasn't even that bad," she tried to protest.

"Then he splashes into the water and nearly drowns!"

"Drowns?" Kaidan managed between gasps of laughter. "How . . . how did he almost drown in a pond?"

Anderson roared with laughter again. "That's the best part, he couldn't swim! He started flailing around gasping for air."

"Why are we telling this story?" Shepard demanded, not enjoying being this embarrassed in front of a new crew member.

"Shepard had to jump over the railing and haul his ass out!" Anderson continued, ignoring Shepard's protests. "She hauled him out of the water like he was a screaming baby! I've never seen the Admiral so red in all my life!"

Both the Captain and the Lieutenant completely dissolved into fits of laughter. As annoying as they were, laughing at one of the most embarrassing moments of her life, the longer they laughed, the more infectious it became. Soon she was fighting back laughter herself.

"You two are both insufferable," she grumbled, her face cracking.

"Ahh, it was a great day," Anderson sighed, wiping a tear from his eye. His omnitool began ring and at once his face fell. "That'll be Udina," he sighed. "And look at the time; we've been here almost four hours."

He stood up and dusted himself off. Shepard stood as well and yawned as she stretched. When she looked back Anderson was staring at her, clearly concerned.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine," she said.

"I hear you're not sleeping," Anderson countered.

Shepard colored up to the roots of her hair and turned to Kaidan.

He turned very pale and looked away.

"I am sleeping," she insisted. "I'm just . . . adjusting."

"Jennifer," he said warningly.

"I'm not lying," she insisted. "I promise if there was something to tell, I would tell you."

Anderson nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder. He worried about her so much. But he knew he couldn't baby her.

"Just be careful," he said at last.

She nodded, "I will."

" _Commander_?" Joker's voice came through her omnitool.

"Go ahead."

" _Hey we're having a bit of an issue in the Cargo bay_."

"What kind of issue?" Anderson raised an eyebrow and started talking quietly to Kaidan.

" _Apparently Garrus has taken over the area to repair the Mako. And by the way why aren't we just putting in for a new one? You pretty much totaled that one_."

Anderson made a face at her.

She raised her hand signaling that she needed a minute. "Joker," she said, trying to stop his talking.

" _Seriously, Commander_ ," he continued, oblivious to her attempts to stop him. " _I heard the left side fell off when you guys got it back in_ . . ."

Shepard switched the comm off.

"Jennifer," Anderson said again, less fatherly and more like a commander.

"I should go check on this," she said quickly. "If you'll excuse me." She turned on a heel and disappeared toward the ship faster than Kaidan though possible without running.

Once she was out of ear shot, Anderson rounded on the LT.

"The left side fell off?"

Kaidan sighed and explained to the Captain as much as he could what had happened during the rescue of Liara. He knew all of the information was in his official report, and if the Captain really wanted to, he could have looked it up and seen what had happened. The fact he was asking Kaidan directly made him very nervous.

"When we got the Mako back onboard we did lose the door trying to get out," he finished.

Anderson stopped pacing and sank down into his chair again. He looked exhausted, the lines on his face seemed more deeply etched than they had at the beginning of the dinner. In the space of the few minutes it took to relay the story, Anderson seemed to have aged years.

"Sir . . ." Kaidan started.

"Thank you for your report, Alenko." His omnitool rang again. He switched it off and stood. "Watch out for her," he said as he walked past LT. "She doesn't know her own limits."

"I'll take care of her," he replied earnestly.

Anderson regarded the man again, this time seeing the emotions he had been concerned about before. He placed his hand on the man's shoulder and nodded, not sure what else to say. Then he headed back to the elevator and departed.

By the time Shepard had sorted through the mess with Garrus and all of his supplies in the cargo bay, and gotten everything cleaned up from dinner, she was exhausted. She went around and made sure everything was set for the night, and then collapsed into bed, not bothering to change or take the makeup off her face.

Shepard was up and going early. No dreams or nightmares had plagued her sleep. Being fully rested she was able to get the crew up and going before a lot of the traffic.

"How's it looking Joker?" She asked, stepping onto the bridge.

"Looks good," he replied, working all the controls. "Do we have a destination?"

She nodded. "Horsehead Nebula, Pax system, Noveria."

"Noveria?"

Shepard nodded again. "We're going after Benezia."


	12. Chapter 12

"We've got about ten hours Captain," Joker said. "Maybe a little less."

"Good. I'm pretty sure I have a mountain of paper work thanks to Garrus' shopping spree."

"Yeah," he laughed. "Good luck with that."

"Thanks," she sighed. She tapped the back of his chair and headed back through the CIC. Pressley stopped her for a moment and complained about the amount of "clutter" in the cargo bay. She assured him that he would be fine and that she was personally going to see what was going on. He still seemed disgruntled, but anytime any of the non-humans did anything, the Navigator was displeased.

"Commander."

"Good Morning Doctor," she replied brightly. "What can I do for you?"

Chakwas smiled. "You can come and have a checkup."

"Checkup?"

"Commander," she chided kindly. "You made contact with an unknown alien artifact which rendered you unconscious for over fifteen hours. We need to do several checkups to assure you're well."

Sheppard sighed. "I'm fine, doc. And I have a lot to do before we get to Noveria."

"All the more reason to get this done early," she insisted, looping her arm through the Commanders. Slowly she began to pull an unwilling Shepard toward the medbay.

"Fine," she sighed at last. "Just be quick."

Forty-five minutes, half a pint of blood, and the last of Shepard's patience for the today later, she emerged from the medbay with a fake smile plastered on her face. She grumbled all the way to elevator, and complained loudly all the way down to the cargo bay.

By the time the doors opened at the bottom she was so frustrated she was starting to feel light headed. She peeled the band-aid off her arm and stuffed it into one of the many pockets on her pants.

"Commander," Wrex grumbled as the doors slid open. "Are you gonna handle all this?" He gestured over his hump toward the million different parts scattered across the floor of the Cargo Bay.

Shepard sighed. "Yeah, I'll handle it."

Wrex grumbled something under his breath as he boarded the elevator. She wanted to ask what he said, but given the natural animosity between krogan and turians, she decided it would be best to let it ride.

How was she going to handle this mess? She hadn't figured that out yet.

There was literally three dozen piles of crap spread across the floor. The Mako itself was positioned in the middle of the bay like it was ready to be launched. Ash was nowhere in sight, (not that Shepard blamed her), and Garrus was literally climbing all over the place.

"Garrus," she inquired as kindly as she could.

Apparently he didn't hear here. Though she was sure she could hear his voice.

"Garrus," she called again, more annoyed.

He was talking alright.

To himself.

"VAKARIAN!" She shouted, her temper getting the better of her.

He started and jumped slightly.

"Co . . . Commander," he said, looking around. "I, uh, didn't hear you there."

"I was only screaming your name," she told him, still frustrated. "Do you often ignore people screaming you name?"

She regretted that question the moment it was out of her mouth.

Garrus raised his eyebrow plate at her and smiled, (she was now 99.9% sure that was a smile.)

"Don't answer that," she grumbled.

"I didn't think the Alliance ran their ships so _loosely_ ," he laughed.

"What is all this mess?" She asked, fighting the losing battle to keep a straight face.

"These are all the parts we bought on the Citadel. And I'm glad you're here." He handed her a dirty greasy rag and some kind of wrench.

"What is this for?"

"Your wrecked it, you gotta help fix it."

"Uh hu. And how long will that take?"

Garrus scratched his chin for a moment. "Depends on how adept you are with a wrench." When she raised an eyebrow at her he added, "I have no idea."

"Well then this is going to have to wait. I have a ton of paperwork to do and I need to sit down with everyone before we get to Noveria . . ."

"Noveria?" Garrus asked cutting her off. "That's where we're headed?"

"That's the last place Benezia was seen."

Garrus sighed. "Not a place I'd want to go under normal circumstances."

"Bad?" She asked.

He nodded.

"Fantastic," she muttered. "Well if you can get some of this cleaned up for now, I know Ash and Wrex have duties they need to get squared away. Hopefully we won't need the Mako for this mission."

He nodded. "What time are we meeting?"

She checked the clock on her omnitool. "Three hours."

Liara stared at the screen in front of her.

She'd spent most of the night going through all the files she could find on her mother.

Which wasn't much.

Most her mother's files were either useless, or heavily redacted.

She wanted to take something to the Commander, give her something on her mother that would be both useful, and show that she truly was on their side. No one had been so brass as to come right out and say they doubted her loyalties; but it was obvious in the way several people looked at her.

Shepard had told her before that she didn't have anything to prove to anyone.

She only wished it felt that way.

After another twenty or so minutes, she gave up. There was nothing in any of these files that could help. Liara pushed her chair away from the desk and sighed. For the first time in half a century she regretted not spending more time with her mother.

Shepard filed the last report she had time for and opened her personal messages.

There was a note from Anderson thanking her for dinner and reminding her not to throw anyone else into peace ponds. Then there was note from her bank back on Earth informing her the latest paycheck from the Alliance had been deposited. Then some kind of spam message about a prince from Sur'Kesh needing credits to fund his trip home, whereupon he would pay out a tidy sum for her help.

She deleted the spam, and filed the other two. A few moments later she was on her way to meet the rest of the crew for their briefing. Shepard was starting to feel inadequate in her new position. Not for the first time, she questioned if she should be in charge of the Normandy. She was still early in her career, and her knowledge of the universe was limited. Somewhere in the back of her mind she worried her lack of knowledge would become a detriment to the crew.

The Commander was so caught up in her little world of worry that she didn't hear Kaidan call to her. She didn't even realize he was walking beside her until he put a hand on her shoulder.

"What?!" She started.

"Shepard, are you okay?" He asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking."

"About?" They started walking again.

"The Galaxy," she replied, not sure what else to say.

"That's a lot to think about," he laughed. "Can you narrow that down or an arm or maybe even a star system?"

She smiled. "Maybe." She pushed the button and the door slid open, most of the crew was already waiting in the comm room, seated in the chairs lining the walls. Kaidan put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and took his seat next to Ash.

"So, Noveria," Shepard started after everyone had exchanged a few greetings.

"Terrible place," Wrex muttered. "Too cold, and never enough paying work."

"You would think a place like Noveria would have an abundance of work for a Merc," Tali observed.

"Nah, they like to handle everything "in house"," Wrex informed them.

"I know the council has a tenuous relationship with most of the businesses there," Garrus added.

"Tenuous how?" Shepard asked.

"They enjoy the benefits those business allot them. A lot of technological breakthroughs have come from those labs."

"What do they do in these labs?" Ash asked.

"I do not think any one knows for certain," Liara commented quietly. "They have longer non-disclosure contracts than Council Spectres."

"That's probably why Benezia is there," Kaidan sighed. "Even if they wanted to tell us why she was there, they couldn't."

"Garrus," the Commander asked, "do they recognize the authority of the Council there?"

"Are you asking if they would acknowledge _your_ authority as a Spectre?" He asked knowingly.

"I am."

"They maybe outside Council space, but they'll adhere to its authority."

"Good. Let's hope this isn't as complicated as it sounds." There was a general look of uncertainty around the room. "Anything else?" She asked.

"Commander," Kaidan said uneasily. "Maybe it would be best not to come out guns blazing."

"What are you suggesting?" Shepard asked.

"We go in with side arms only."

There was a lot of complaining around the room all at once.

"You can have my shotgun when you quad up and pry it from my cold dead fingers," Wrex challenged.

"The last thing we want is to be caught in a bad situation without protection," Garrus scoffed.

"No way, LT," Ash laughed.

"Alright!" Shepard shouted, quelling the arguments. "It's not a bad point. If we go in locked n' loaded we're going to send the wrong message. Side arms only. Except Wrex."

"Why him?" Tali asked curiously.

"I'm not foolish enough to try and separate a krogan from his shotgun. I'm hoping they aren't either."

Shepard stood on the bridge as they approached Noveria. She was hoping they could land without incident, but just in case, she was ready.

"Approach Control," Joker hailed over the comm. "This is the SSV Normandy. Requesting a vector and a berth."

" _Normandy, your arrival was not scheduled_ ," a rather annoyed voice hailed back. " _Our defense grid is armed and tracking you. State your business_."

Shepard and Joker exchanged a look.

"Citadel business," Joker replied. "We've got a Council Spectre aboard."

There was a long silence.

Finally, " _Landing access granted, Normandy_." The console in front of Joker pinged and a set of coordinates popped up. A few button presses later, Joker had them pulling into a nearby hanger.

" _Be advised: we will be confirming identification on arrival. If confirmation cannot be established, your vessel will be impounded._ "

Another look passed between Shepard and Joker.

"What a fun bunch!" He joked. "I think I'll take my next leave here."

She chuckled and shook her head. "This is gonna be a blast," she said sarcastically. "Don't let her get too comfortable. I get the feeling our welcome is gonna wear thin real fast."

"You got it, Commander."

She turned and addressed her team, who had were waiting for her while they approached.

"I assume you all heard that?" She asked.

They nodded. Except for Liara, who looked slightly uncomfortable in her armor. It had worked out fairly well for her, considering she had turned out to be almost the exact same size as Shepard. So the extra combat armor she'd brought fit her fantastically.

Not that she seemed as excited about that now.

"I guess it's good we weren't expecting a warm welcome," Garrus muttered.

"Let's just try to not get thrown off the planet before we find our answers." Shepard lead them through the air lock and out into the docking bay.

At once she was struck by how cold and grey their surroundings were. Immediately to their left was a floating turret. It scanned each member of her team as they passed by. It didn't fire, but it kept the barrel of its gun trained on her.

Together they moved right, around the side of the ship. They came around the next corner and Shepard sighed. Three heavily armed people in combat armor stood waiting for them. She could hear at least two other floating turrets somewhere nearby as well.

"Commander?" Liara asked nervously.

Shepard waved her concern away and kept walking.

"That's far enough," the woman in the middle called. She was shorter than the other two, granted one was a turian and the other woman was the tallest Shepard had ever seen. Even though she was the smallest, she was clearly the person in charge.

Shepard stopped and lifted her hands. "We're not here to cause problems."

They didn't look convinced.

"This is an unscheduled arrival," the woman in the middle spoke again. "I need your credentials."

"You first," the Commander insisted. She knew how compelling both Saren and Benezia could be. She needed to be careful about who she spoke to.

"We're the law here," the woman to the right grumbled. "Show some respect."

The woman in the center raised her hand to silence the other. "I'm Captain Maeko Matsuo, Elanus Risk Control Services."

Shepard nodded. "I'm a Spectre. My name is Shepard."

"Load of horsecrap, ma'am," the tall blonde woman scoffed.

"We will need to confirm that," Captain Matsuo informed them. "Also I must advise you that firearms are not permitted on Noveria. Sergeant Stirling, secure their weapons."

With a smile the blonde woman started toward them.

A lot of things happened at once.

Shepard, Liara and Kaidan fired up their biotic barriers. Ash, Garrus, and Wrex drew weapons. And Tali pulled her omnitool up, eyeing the floating turrets. Captain Matsuo, Sergeant Stirling, and the turian guard all pulled weapons. The commander had hoped they would be able to get through things without incident. But she would be damned if she was going after an asari Matriarch unarmed.

"It would not be wise to search for the geth unarmed," Liara offered quietly.

After a moment's hesitation, Shepard dropped her barrier. "Stand down," she sighed. "Their house their rules."

"If you think this is best, Commander," Garrus said begrudgingly.

Before anyone could lower their guns, the comm clicked on.

" _Captain Matsuo!_ " A woman shouted. " _Stand down. We have confirmed their identity. Spectres are authorized to carry weapons here, Captain._ "

Everyone lowered their guns and returned them to their mags.

"You may proceed," Matsuo told them. "I hope the rest of your visit will be less confrontational. Parasini-san will meet you upstairs."

Shepard nodded her thanks and moved to pass.

"Behave yourself," Stirling muttered as they went.

Without another word the three dispersed. Shepard turned to the left to see the two turrets she'd heard a moment ago. Just behind them was a wall made up of glass panes on each side and a set of rotating glass doors in the center.

Just beyond that she could see an open space with stairs along each wall leading up to a platform she couldn't quite see yet. Between the stairs there was a large flowing water fountain flanked by two potted plants.

Not wanting to press their luck, Shepard lead them through the doors before Stirling changed her mind and fired on them. Just through the door she could see two other glass doors on either side. Just a head she could hear conversation, so she headed up the stairs to her left.

At the top of the stairs there was an assortment of packages being sorted on the left, seats all the way on the right, and two more floating turrets with scanners. Just past them there was a counter with two computers and a man with a sour expression.

As they started toward the man alarms began to blare.

She brought her barrier up and heard several members of her team draw weapons.

"Weapon detectors!" A woman in a floor length pink dress shouted as she approached the counter. "Don't mind the alarms." She waved at the sour faced man and a moment later the alarms stopped.

"I am Gianna Parasini," the woman in pink announced. "Assistant to Administrator Anoleis. We apologize for the incident in the docking bay."

Shepard nodded, "I appreciate your help."

"You're welcome. You understand our security chief was only doing her job. We aren't accustom to such . . . interesting visitors."

"That's an understatement," Tali muttered.

"Anyway," Gianna continued. "One of my duties is orientation of new arrivals. Do you have any questions?"

"Has anyone unusual passed through here recently?" The Commander asked.

"Unusual?" She asked. "Uh, an asari Matriarch passed through a few days ago. Lady Benezia."

"Benezia . . . ?"Liara stumbled. "She is here?"

Shepard looked at Liara for moment. Clearly her mother being so close was painful. For a moment she wondered if bring her was a wise idea.

"Can I speak with her?" She asked at last.

Gianna pulled a face. "Benezia left for the Peak 15 research complex days ago. To the best of my knowledge she's still there."

"Could you tell me how to get there?"

She made another face. "You'll need to ask Administrator Anoleis for clearance to leave this port."

There was a murmur of discontent among her crew.

"Where can I find the administrator?" Shepard asked.

"His office is on the main level," Gianna instructed them. "Left at the top of the elevator."

"Understood," Shepard nodded. "Can we go in now?"

"Of course," she replied politely. "If you need any help, you can ask me at the administrator's office." She turned a disappeared the way she'd come.

"She is here," Liara said quietly. "I can't believe it." She turned and faced the Commander. "I imagine you want to talk to me, Shepard. About my mother."

She smiled kindly at the asari. "No, I don't. I trust you, Liara. You may not be military, but you're part of my crew."

Liara smiled brightly. "Thank you, Shepard. That means a great deal to me."

"Let's get moving," she said leading them down a set of stairs and around a corner to an elevator. A very small elevator. Carefully the seven of them packed inside, not too much unlike sardines. There was a bit of grumbling and complaining. Once they were aboard, the Commander hit the button and the doors hissed closed.

" _Welcome to Port Hanshan_ ," An electronic voice greeted them. " _The galaxy's most respected site for independent scientific research and development. For your own safety, and to protect the privacy of others, you are required to obey any directions given by our security personnel. If you have questions or concerns, our friendly administrative staff is always available. Thank you and enjoy your stay._ "

"That sounds promising," Ash muttered as the doors slid open.

Inside there was a similar motif. Stone grey walls and floors with the occasional glass window and water fountain to break up the monotony. There were several groups of people milling about on the floor directly in front of them and it seemed like there was more down the stairs to the left.

The Commander walked up to human female and a salarian male engaged in a whispered conversation.

"Excuse me," she stated politely.

"Oh," the salarian started, taking a step back. "You're that _Spectre_ security told us about. We're not supposed to talk to you." Without another word the two turned and walked away.

"So friendly," Garrus muttered. "Will the whole planet be this way?"

"Most likely," Tali commented off hand.

For a moment Shepard was inclined to ask why. Until she remembered that quarians were always given the brush off, everywhere they went. This probably seemed like just another greeting to her.

"Well, whatever the case maybe, we have a job to do," Shepard reminded them. "Garrus, Wrex, with me. Everybody else, fan out and see what you can find out. These people might not talk to me, but you all might get lucky."

"Commander," Liara called uncertainly. "I would like to go with you, if I may. If my mother is here, this administrator is certain to have information about her whereabouts. And he would have no reason to keep such information from her daughter."

Shepard considered this for a moment. "It might be a long shot, but yeah. Come with us and let's see what we can find out." With a nod, the rest of the team moved off to see what they could learn. A human, turian, krogan, and asari, turned for the stairs and headed down.

Down a small stone flight of stairs, across another level where a turian guard held his gun a little to tightly for comfort, than down another set of stairs and off to the left they could see the door.

Like the rest of the planet, the office was comprised of stone and glass. There were tables here and there and a few small sad looking potted plants. Around a large stone column that tactically, made no sense at all, and then through another glass door.

"How can I help you?" Giana greeted as they entered.

Shepard nodded a quick greeting and said, "I'd like to speak to Anoleis."

"All of you?" She asked, her voice sounding slightly strained. Before the Commander could reply, she waved away her previous comment and said, "One moment, please." She tapped a few buttons on her com system at her desk. "Mr. Anoleis?"

"Yes. What? What!" He called back, sounding both rushed and annoyed.

"Commander Shepard is asking to see you, sir."

"Right," he grumbled. "Fine. Come in."

"Around my desk and through the door," Giana whispered as she ended the call.

Shepard thanked her and led the small group through another glass door.

This is a room was different. Most of the walls here were glass along with a large section of the roof. For a moment, Shepard was tempted to stop and watch the snow beat relentlessly against the window. But she figured the director wouldn't sit around and wait for that.

At a large desk directly across from the door, sat a very uptight looking salarian in what appeared to be a very expensive suit.

"You will excuse me if I don't stand up." It sounded like a very dismissive command. "I have no time to entertain refugees from that urban blight called Earth."

Shepard crossed her arms. "I see you've looked up my service record."

"Only a fool enters negotiations without knowledge of the other party's tendency. This greeting is a courtesy. I will only cooperate as required by the Executive board. Businesses come here to avoid the second guessing of galactic law."

"Are you telling me you have no safety protocols?" Shepard asked before she could help it.

"Don't be ridiculous! Do you think a for-profit company would take no precautions against loss of life and materials? Project leads have final say here, not meddlesome politicians."

Already regretting having even asked, the Commander changed tactics. "Do you do any business with Saren?"

"Agent Saren?" Anoleis asked. "One of your Spectre compatriots? He is a major investor in Binary Helix Corporation, which is one of Noveria's backers."

"Is Binary Helix developing weapons for him?" The commander asked.

"It's possible given his interests," the administrator admitted honestly. "What our clients do in their labs is their business."

Liara cleared her throat loudly.

Understanding, Shepard asked, "I've heard an asari Matriarch is here. Benezia?"

Anoleis narrowed his eyes, "She arrived a few days ago, accompanied by a personal escort and some cargo. She is up at peak 15."

"What can you tell me about her cargo?" Shepard asked.

"Large, heavy, and sealed," he replied annoyed again. "It passed weapons screening. Beyond that it is not our concern."

"What brought her out here?"

Anoleis waved away her question like it simply didn't matter. "If I knew, I wouldn't be at liberty to say. She came here as Agent Saren's executor. She's here on business for Binary Helix. There were issues at Peak 15 that required Saren's attention."

"I'd like to see her immediately." Shepard tried to put as much authority into her voice as she could muster.

The administrator shook his head. "I'm afraid you cannot. Peak 15 is a private research facility in the Skadi Mountains. Regardless, there is a blizzard in the area. Shuttles are grounded, and surface access has been cut off."

"Surface access, you say?" Shepard asked.

"Cut off, I said. The roads are not suitable for travel. Don't make an issue of this, Shepard."

"Forget him, Commander," Garrus said. "If he won't help us, I'm sure someone else here will."

She nodded. "I have no more questions, at this time," she added.

"Good," he said with a something that could have been happiness. "I received a dozen urgent messages while you dithered about."

Wrex shifted uncomfortably behind her. Shepard could tell he didn't care for the salarian's tone and was eager to make that known. She turned on her heel quickly and motioned for the others to head out the door. She followed close behind, just in case someone decided to try and beat the information out of Anoleis.

"What do we do now, Commander?" Liara asked as they came around the back side of Giana's desk.

"Mr. Anoles isn't the only one with a pass to leave Hanshan."

The group stopped.

"Miss. Parasini?" Shepard asked.

"You've never worked in the corporate world, have you, Commander?" She asked with a smile. "You can't bludgeon through bureaucracy."

"So it would seem," She replied. "I need an alternative."

Giana leaned forward and looked around, "Speak to Lorik Qui'in," she whispered so quietly Shepard had to practically lean across the desk to hear her. "You should be able to find him at the hotel bar. Can't say more. Not within earshot of Mr. Anoleis."

Shepard nodded. "Thank you," she said in a normal voice. "I've taken up enough of your time."

"Not at all Spectre," she replied brightly, "This is my job after all."

The Commander led her small group out into the main are of the port. It took a few minutes to find the rest of her crew but once she had, she pulled everyone off the beaten path and relayed to them what they had learned.

"So what's the plan then?" Kaidan asked. "Should we track down this Qui'in guy?"

"He's a turian," Garrus offered. "I remember hearing something about him a while ago, back on Palavin. Can't remember what for."

"Alright then," Shepard decided. "Let's spread out and look for this guy. It's a big place, but not huge. Try to stay out of trouble and if you get eyes on him, radio for the rest. Garrus, Kaidan, you're with me."

The team disbursed. Liara and Tali took off to the left together. Wrex went off on his own, in the direction of the bar. And Ash headed off down a set of stairs toward signs that read: "Garage".

Shepard lead her small group away and to the right, seeing what looked like several shops. Hopefully shopkeepers would be chattier.

"Commander?" Garrus asked as they started toward some stairs.

She groaned quietly. "Yeah?"

"How much do we trust Liara?"

"Why?" She asked almost coming to a complete stop.

"She could be leading us into a trap for her mother."

"Garrus is right," Kaidan agreed. "We're taking a huge risk here."

Shepard stopped at the top of the steps. "At this point I don't think we have a choice. We have to get to Benezia. And if Liara isn't being honest than her mother already knows we're here. We press on."

Garrus seemed relived she wasn't defending the asari. He didn't' seem to like her answer, but he was done questioning her

After talking with a Hannar shopkeeper, and refusing to help it smuggle goods in, Shepard and her group walked out of the shops, empty handed.

"That was . . . insightful," Kaidan offered.

"More like a waste of time," Garrus corrected.

The com in her ear buzzed before Shepard could respond. " _I think I found your turian._ " Wrex's voice came over, sounding somehow more guttural. " _Come to the bar._ "

A moment later, the rest of the group was shuffling into another small elevator. Granted, without the krogan, it wasn't nearly as tight a squeeze.

As the lift climbed Shepard could hear some kind of techno music playing. As they came to a stop they faced a long cement hallway that opened up to what looked like a very large bar. Hoping this would be a simple, they set out.

Of course it wouldn't be. There was at least a dozen different turians running around in the bar. More salarians than Shepard could count, and just enough asari to keep it interesting. Very few humans, though.

"I don't suppose you remember what Qui'in looks like?" Kaidan asked.

Garrus shook his head. "I've never actually seen him before."

"Excuse me," an asari called from their left. "I need a moment of your time." She was wearing a skin tight yellow dress that didn't leave anything to the imagination until it stopped at the top of her thigh. Curious, Shepard turned.

"My name is Mallene Calis. The male human at the hotel bar, he is a sales rep for Binary Helix. His name is Rafael Vargas. I need you to speak with him."

The commander looked around confused. "Do you know who I am?" She asked. Saren was on the board for BH. Was there something about him this man knew?

"Everyone knows who you are, dull stone," she insulted Shepard. "That makes you ideal for my job. You are a known quantity. Or so Vargas will think. He will assume you are here to investigate his company's dirty laundry. That will distract him from your—my—real intentions."

"He's right there. Why not talk to him yourself?"

"I wish I could," Mallene sighed. "I already bungled this myself. He realized I was not a real buyer."

"I don't know anything about Binary Helix. What would I talk to Vargas about?"

"I represent the Aramli City Council on Thessia. Our town is known for its biotic amp crafters."

"What is your city's interest in Binary Helix?" Liara piped up, "They do not manufacture amps."

Calis regarded Liara the way a teacher would a dumb child. Shepard wondered for a moment how significant, if any, the age difference was between them. Most asari looked to be about the same age to Shepard. If she was being honest, she still didn't know a whole lot about them. Her training in the alliance and the N7 program revolved around the military strengths and weaknesses of the other species.

Making a mental note to ask Liara more about her culture, Shepard focused back on the conversation at hand.

"Much of BH's work relates to biotics. There are rumors that the Noveria branch has flown in asari biotics. Powerful ones. Commandos, to be specific. We want to assess any potential risk to asari copyrights."

She crossed her arms across her chest and looked around at their strange little group. "You will present yourself as a buyer. On behalf of the Specters or the Alliance," she waved her hand dismissively, as if neither of those institutions mattered to her. "Discuss their military enhancement programs.

"Your real objective will be to distract him. I will give you a device that will crack into his personal wireless network. It will upload a variety of monitoring viruses. They will infiltrate Binary Helix when he logs onto the intranet."

"Shepard," Kaidan muttered quietly.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry," she started, "do you think this uniform is just for show? My job is to enforce the law, not break it."

Shepard would have been done then, but Mallene kept talking.

"Do you think that Binary Helix obeys all the laws? That they do not spy on other companies?"

Shepard shook her head again. "What they _might_ be doing, somewhere else, doesn't justify my acting against them here."

With a very dramatic eye roll, Mallene said, "Very well, Spectre. I'll be on my way." She slinked off toward the bar, her dramatically tall heels, clicking on the hard stone floor.

"What the hell was that about?" Ash asked, a slight xenophobic undertone to her question.

"You should have asked if she was paying," Wrex grunted walking up. Everyone turned to look at the Krogan. "What? Credits are credits."

"I think that's Qui'in over there," Garrus offered, gesturing to a turian sitting alone at a table off the bar. He was dark grey with white tribal markings on his face. He was dressed nicer than most of the turians around, and he wasn't clearly carrying a weapon.

"Garrus, Liara, come with me," Shepard directed, "Everybody else, fan out and take up positions around the room. Just in case." With a silent nod, the party dispersed around the room.

As she approached, the turian looked up and smiled. "Afternoon," he greeted them with false enthusiasm. Sit down, have a drink." Shepard sat, but waved away the drink. "What can I do for you?" He asked when she was settled.

"Are you Lorik Qui'in? I've heard you might be able to help me."

"You are the Spectre that just arrived, are you not?" He asked. "What could an old turian, like me, possibly help you with?"

Keeping as close to the truth as she could, Shepard said, "I'm trying to find a way into the garage. I have placed to go."

He smiled again, wider this time so his mandibles opened revealing very poorly cared for teeth. "You need a pass," he stated. "How fortuitous. I'm the manager of the local Synthetics Insights office. For the moment, at least."

There was a short pause. Shepard wasn't sure if she should ask, or let him continue.

When she said nothing, Qui'in continued. "Mr. Anoleis closed my office. He claims to be investigating reports of my corruption. The administrator is and interesting man. He has become quite wealthy since he took control of rents."

Shepard nodded, "I sense a connection there."

"Indeed. I acquired evidence of Anoleis' actions. His hired goons are ransacking my office trying to find it."

A look passed between Garrus and Shepard. There was more going on here.

"I suspect your goal lies outside this port," Qui'in continued. "Mr. Anoleis would be disinclined to let you wander. If you recover the evidence from my office, I will give you my garage pass, as well as a sum of credits."

Shepard considered a moment, "Why didn't Anoleis cancel your pass clearance?"

Qui'in chuckled. "Why should he? There's nothing outside but snow and hungry nathak."

"Alright," she consented. "You have a plan?"

"I do," Qui'in sighed. "However, there is one other – what is that charming human expression? 'Fly in the lotion'."

"We're listening," Garrus prompted him.

"Violence against Mr. Anoleis' thugs might be necessary. He has members of Hanshan's security team searching my offices. He is paying them under the table. Ms. Matsuo is unaware of their outside employment."

Shepard pulled at the collar of her armor uncomfortably. Liara looked concerned, like the thought of violence my turn her stomach. Garrus seemed completely unphased.

"I'll focus on trying to get your evidence. If I'm lucky, I won't have to fight anyone."

Qui'in smiled again. "Excellent. Here is my pass into our offices. It will activate the elevator. The evidence in on my office computer. This OSD contains an encryption key to access it. Slid it into the drive and it will auto-execute."

Shepard took the dive and it looked it over. It was so small she was afraid if she dropped it, it would fall between the cracks of the floor and be lost forever.

"And do try to keep the blood stains off the carpets," Qui'in added dismissively. Garrus stepped forward, ready to start a fight by the looks of him. Shepard hooked her arm through his and began leading him back toward the entrance of the bar.

"Arrogant son of a bitch, isn't he?" He asked as gave in to Shepard's tugging and allowed himself to be dragged away.

"Arrogant or not," she sighed as she signaled for the others to meet up with them, "we need his garage key."

"I'm sure I could find another," he grumbled.

"We do not have time for that kind of a delay," Liara added helpfully.

"Fine," he grunted.

"That looks like it went well," Ash joked as she caught sight of Garrus foul mood.

Shep explained what Qui'in had told them as the crew made their way from the bar to the elevator access. Even the part about the possibility of violence.

"Not a problem for me," Wrex grunted.

"Or Shepard," Garrus put in. "As a Spectre, there's very little she can't do."

"Yeah, the council is good at covering up what they don't want people to see," Tali said quietly.

"I don't think that makes it okay," Kaidan started.

"It's not," Shepard finished. "We go in for the data and, if I can help it, we won't have to hurt anyone."

"Takes all the fun out of it," Wrex grunted.

"Skipper," Ash offered, eyeing the krogan uneasily. "I know the elevator we need. It's this way."


	13. Chapter 13

Two long elevator rides later, and the crew emptied out into another similar, long, stone corridor. At the end was glass door through which two heavily armed people were visible.

"Plan?" Garrus asked quietly.

"Just let me talk to them. Hired guns usually don't have much skin in the game," Shepard said. A look passed between the non-humans.

"Why would they have skin in a game?" Tali asked Liara quietly. She shrugged.

The door slid open and Shepard walked in.

"Freeze!" The female guard shouted, pulling a pistol. "Hanshan security. This office is sealed." A turian behind her leveled an assault rifle at the crew. He bounced back and forth, not sure where to point the gun. Finally it came to rest on Shepard.

Shepard raised her hands. "Lorik Qui'in gave me a pass in," she explained.

"Qui'in?" The guard asked. "Are you working for him? He's under investigation.

Feeling a headache start to spike, the commander cut right to the chase. "Anoleis is paying you to shake this place down. Does Captain Matsuo know you're here?"

The two shared a look. "Hey," the woman said, "I'm not the one who wants Qui'in. Anoleis has a varren up his ass about this guy. How about this? You pretend you didn't see us, we'll pretend we didn't see you?"

Several other members of the security team quickly skirted past the group and out the door. Just as she was about to make a comment about their luck turning around, as sound caught Shepard's attention.

It sounded like a a mag-lock disengaging.

A quick glance to Wrex told her he heard the same.

She pulled her assault rifle and raised a closed fist to silence the group.

"We're not out of the woods yet," she whispered.

The team responded instantly. Guns were drawn silently and they fell into formation. As a single-minded unit, they moved forward. Shepard at the point, Garrus and Kaidan to her right and left, then Ash and Tali, Liara was in the middle with Wrex bringing up the rear.

They didn't have to look long.

As they moved up to the first half wall, an ERCS guard came rushing forward, followed by more than a dozen additional guards. Asari, human, even a handful of turians were charging at them.

The group fractured, splitting into smaller groups as they took on the forces at hand. Between the three biotics, a single shot didn't get through. Tali made short work of their shields, and Garrus, despite running and dodging fire, sniped the would-be snipers on the second story. In a few minutes, the fight was over.

"That's the last," Shepard announced as she checked her radar. "Everyone intact?"

"We're good," Ash announced for herself and Liara.

Wrex grunted.

"I'm good, Shepard," Tali announced.

"I think my shield generator got hit," Kaidan observed. He pulled the small white box off its clamp on his left thigh. It was sparking and smoking like the krogan.

"That's not good," Tali observed. "May I?" He handed her the box and she started in on it at once, using both a small set of screwdrivers Shepard didn't know she had, and her omnitool to fix the problem.

"Fan out people," Shep said, "we're looking for his office terminal." She held Kaidan back. "Will you be able to use your barrier for now?"

"I should be fine, Commander," he assured her. "I'm not even sure how they tagged me."

"Well, be careful," she put a hand on her shoulder, not a move typical for a superior/subordinate relationship. Which she knew, but something about just the thought of him hurt, set her mind on edge and her heart racing.

Which was ridiculous.

She knew that too.

Pulling her hand away she tried to go for a good old fashioned shoulder pat, but it just made things more awkward. So, she turned and walked away as quickly as she could without obviously running.

"Skipper!" Ash called from the second floor. "I think we've got it."

Up the stairs, to the left, all the way down the hall, and through another glass door was an office that clearly belonged to someone important. The walls were the same cold grey stone, but the floor was covered with a thick red carpet that added comfort as well as color to the room. There was several paintings on the wall, some were very well done human remakes, others looked original. At least one was turian.

Shepard didn't know much about art, but she recognized the view of view of Palavin from its moon Menae, or at least, an artist's representation of it, since no civilians were allowed on the moon. There were no photos on the wall, even the exceptionally expensive desk was void of any personal belongings. Just his terminal.

Beyond that a large rock formation sat in a bed of sand in front of huge window that looked out into the storm.

"Nicest office in here," Ash observed. "Figured it had to belong to that guy."

"It seems his style," Garrus agreed.

Shepard pulled the ODS drive from her pocket and plugged it in. The computer started up quickly and a message flashed across the screen.

 _OSD DRIVE AUTO-EXECUTE PROTOCAL ENABLED_

The machine beeped a few seconds later and the drive ejected itself.

"I guess that's it," Shep said putting the drive back into her pocket. "Let's get this to Qui'in and get up to the research center."

There was a few small conversations as the crew made its way back across the hallway.

"Shepard?" Tali asked coming alongside her.

"Yes?"

"I've been looking over the luitenants shield generator."

"And?" She prompted when the girl was still silent.

"I could fix it on the ship, no problem. But right now . . ."

"Nothing you can do?"

"I could rig it up by bypassing some of the dampeners and rerouting some of the safety precautions. But that would give him of fifty-fifty shot at either a shield or enough electricity to power the Mako."

Shep looked back at the LT, who was currently engaged in a conversation with Liara that had something to do with biotics.

"Hold on to it for now," she decided. "We'll get it fixed back at the ship."

"He'll be without shields."

"He's biotic, and I'll keep him close. He should be fine. Thank you Tali."

"I didn't do anything," she tried to wave the thanks off.

"No. But you offered and you tired. That's means a lot."

Through the mask Shep could tell she was smiling.

"I don't think you're supposed to be in here, Shepard," a familiar voice called from the shadows, cutting away the friendly chatter. The large blonde woman from the docks emerged from behind a pillar across the terrace. She was flanked on either side by more guards and the sound of many bootfalls could be heard echoing from the floor below.

Trying to avoid further bloodshed, Shepard said, "You have me at a disadvantage, Miss . . .?"

She scoffed. "Oh, now you want to show some respect? I'm Sargent Kaira Stirling, Elanus Risk Control Services. Anoleis would throw you off world for what you did here. I won't. You know what we did to cop killers on my world?"

Garrus moved slightly forward, "Your men are dirty, Sargent. You're here off duty, breaking the law for bribe money."

"Do you know what we do to cop killers on my world?" Wrex asked menacingly.

"I didn't want to fight them," Shep added. "They fired first."

Several things happened at once.

Kaira signaled her men to open fire.

Wrex, sensing the shift before the others, pulled his shotgun.

And Liara raised a barrier around everyone.

Then the fighting broke out in earnest.

"Alenko, on me," Shepard commanded as they moved for cover. It took a good deal of concentration, but she was able to spread her barrier from her body to his.

"Commander?" He asked as he popped up and fired off a few rounds at a guard.

"Focus," she shouted as she threw a warp field at a group of rushing guards. They were pulled off their feet and spun helplessly in the air. Kaidan threw a ball of biotic energy into her warp and it exploded out, launching them into the walls around the room.

Kaidan brought up his own barrier and was surprised to see that his and Shepard's melded together. Together they moved to the next cover, pulling, tossing, and firing on enemies as they went. In just over five minutes they had cleared both floors of enemies.

"Clear," Garrus called.

"Clear," Ash repeated.

"Clear," Shep confirmed. They came out from behind their covers and re-magged their weapons. "This place is a blood bath," she added quietly under her breath. "Let's get out of here."

Treading carefully, the team moved through the minefield of dead guards. Some were still breathing, some were not. She would have preferred to keep them all alive. But it's not always that easy. She tried.

Together they crammed into the elevator and waited as it made its incredibly slow progress back toward the main floor.

"Do we tell Qui'in we painted his office?" Wrex asked with a laughing grunt.

"Let's just leave that part out, for now," Shep sighed.

The elevator pinged as it reached the last floor and the doors slid open. They filed out and started up the short staircase toward the main floor.

"Commander," Giana Parasini called as they rounded the corner. She was leaning against the wall in her loud pink dress, waiting for them. "There've been reports of noise from the Synthetic Insights office. Would you know anything about that?"

"It's probably Anoleis' thugs ripping the place apart," Shep said dryly.

Giana smiled. "Smartass, hm? I can work with that. Meet me at the hotel for a drink, before you talk to Qui'in. I'll be waiting." She turned on her heel and sauntered down the stairs and around the corner.

"What was that about?" Ash asked.

"I'm not sure," Shepard replied, still trying to figure out Giana's angle in all this.

"What do you want to do?" Tali asked.

"She knows we were up there, she could have us thrown off world, or deny Qui'in's garage pass leaving us stranded."

"I'd like to see her try," Wrex added.

"Let's just see what she wants."

The odd crew came through the glass doors of the bar, again. Qui'in was still sitting at his table, very wrapped up in a datapad. Giana was around the other side of the large rock fountain. She met the commanders eye and motioned for her to come over.

"What do you want to do, Commander?" Kaidan asked.

"We might as well see what she wants," Garrus observed. "She's helped us so far."

"Could be a trap," Wrex offered.

"Only one way to know for sure," Shepard sighed turning right toward Giana.

"Ah, Commander," she greeted brightly. "Allow me to reintroduce myself. Parasini, Noveria Internal Affairs."

"Why is an Internal Affairs agent here?" Shepard asked, literally the first question that popped into her head.

She smiled. "The Executive Board knows about Anoleis' corruption. I've been undercover for six months. I want you to convince Qui'in to testify before the Board. With his evidence, this planet can run profitably again."

Shepard considered a moment. "You work for Anoleis. Can't you just take his records?"

She shook her head. "He's a crook, not a moron. He doesn't keep logs on his computer saying "this month I stole three million credits." Qui'in's testimony and records are everything I need to prove Anoleis' guilt in one package."

"So why not ask him directly?" Tali asked. "Why go through Shepard?"

"I'm Anoleis' secretary!" She exclaimed. "You think he'd believe me? That he'd meet me in some dark alley with his evidence?"

"Shepard," Kaidan warned in a cautious whisper behind her. She glanced at him over her shoulder. Garrus was next to him, he made a small gesture all around them.

The commander understood.

"I thought corruption was the rule of Noveria?" Shepard asked.

Parasini rolled her eyes. She was clearly losing patience with Shepard and her crew. "The rule is "don't rock the boat." Self-interest is tolerated if it doesn't interfere with business. Anoleis is driving customers away."

"We need that pass," Wrex offered loudly.

"He's right," Shepard explained. "I need Qui'in's garage pass to complete my mission."

Parasini smiled in a way that made Shepard question working further with this woman.

"If you help with my investigation, I'll provide you whatever you need," she offered in an almost sickly-sweet tone. "Favor, for favor."

"A moment, please," Shepard said as she turned back to her crew.

"Please," Parasini sighed, her tone covered in sarcasm. "Take all the time you need."

Shepard ushered her crew back a few steps, just out of ear shot and asked, "Thoughts?"

"In the long run," Liara offered, "It is better to remove the source of the problem."

"Not our problem," Wrex countered. "Let that pyjack deal with her own problems."

"Hate to say it," Ash sighed, "But I agree with the Krogan."

"If she could help us get through the garage," Tali chimed in, "she might be able to provide more information about what we're up against."

"Anoleis is dirty," Garrus said matter-of-factly. "Might be best just to help her."

Shepard's eyes came to rest on Kaidan.

"It's your call, Commander," was all he offered.

"Look, Shepard," Parasini offered coming up behind her. "I don't like this either. You Specters play fast and loose with the law. That's bad for business."

Shepard took one more moment to consider. "All right. I'll talk to Qui'in and see if I can convince him."

"Thank you," she sighed, looked immensely relieved. "You know where I work. Come talk to me once you know he'll play ball." With a nod. She took her leave.

"That's not suspicious," Ash commented as the woman walked away.

"Commander," Garrus asked. "What do we do if Qui'in refuses?"

Shepard shook her head. "Hopefully it won't come to that." She scanned her party. Too many to approach him at once. He might feel threatened and back out. Perhaps a softer approach.

"Liara, Tali, come with me. The rest of you hold back, for now."

No one argued, but it was clear no one was happy about being left behind either. With her ladies in tow, Shepard turned for Qui'in.

He was still seated at the same bar, despite all that had happened since they'd last spoken, he remained unchanged. From this distance, Shepard was sure he was still reading the same article on his datapad.

"Spectre," he greeted warmly. "Always a pleasure." He dropped his voice as she got closer. "Any news on that _matter_ I asked you to look into?"

Taking a deep breath, she said, "I finished the job. But an internal affairs investigator contacted me. She wants you to testify against Anoleis."

That was most certainly an angry turian face, Shepard was sure of it.

"Now that you have my property," Qui'in started, he restraint not fully covering the indignation in his voice. "You want to dictate how I use it? I have no interest in a public spectacle."

She'd expected this. I person like Qui'in liked to stay under the radar, certainly away from anything having to do with the law or a trial. But he'd been hurt by Anoleis, the same as many others on the station.

"Look," she started, "everyone on this station is chaffing under Anoleis' extortion. You do this, and you might end up hero."

He opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it again. Clearly, he'd been ready to respond to whatever plea Shepard might make. But he hadn't been expecting her to make the proposal all about him. So he mulled it over for a few moments more.

"My employers rely on the goodwill of the Executive Board to work here." Shepard wasn't sure if he was making an observation, showing an obstacle, or asking a question.

"The board was already investigating Anoleis," Tali chimed in. "Their concerned about the worm in their own fruit."

He considered her words and, finally, through his hands up. "All right!" He exclaimed. "It is obvious I cannot dissuade you." His tone sounded irritated and defeated, but something about the way his eyes were twinkling made Shepard feel like he was somehow coming out the winner here.

"Very well," he said, calmer now. "I will testify. Make whatever arrangements you need to with your contact. I'll wait here."

"Thank you," Shepard said earnestly. "I'm sure she'll be contacting you soon."

With an exaggerated huff, Qui'in went back to his datapad.

The commander retuned to the rest of the party with Liara and Tali.

"How did it go?" Kaidan asked.

"He's going to testify," Tali announced brightly.

"That's great," he replied, smiling at the Commander. Ash cleared her throat loudly and he looked away.

"What now, Skipper?"

"Back to Parasini."

Ten minutes later, Anoleis was being hauled off in cuffs by Parasini. Shepard had her garage pass and a promise of a beer, should she and the investigator ever meet up again. It was certainly more drama that she'd intended to be a part of. Maybe that was part of what being a Spectre was all about. Getting pulled into other people's messes and having them all assume you had the answer.

Which was a lot like the military, if she was being honest. Maybe being the first human Spectre wasn't going to be so hard. She glanced around at her crew as they made their way toward the garage. Or maybe it was this motley crew that was holding it all together.

Either way, they were off to Peak 15.


End file.
